$1M Cash4Life prize claimed by Islip woman just days before winning ticket was to become worthless

An Islip woman claimed a $1 million Cash4Life prize just days before New York Lottery officials said her winning ticket was to become worthless.

Officials said Thursday that Genine Plummer, a retired U.S. Postal Service employee, claimed the prize days before the one-year expiration that would have voided her second-prize win.

The lottery issued a statement on May 11 alerting players that the winning ticket to the May 26, 2022, drawing was set to expire on May 26, 2023. Though it was unclear Thursday where Plummer saw that notice, lottery officials said the news “prompted Plummer to check her tickets again” — at which time she discovered she had the winning ticket.

That ticket, sold at the ShopRite store located at 1905 Sunrise Hwy. in Bay Shore, earned Plummer the second prize in the drawing, good for $1,000 a week for life — with a minimum $1 million payout guaranteed. The winning numbers for the draw were: 3, 9, 33, 57, 58 and the Cash Ball 1. A first-prize winning ticket matches all five numbers and the Cash Ball and is worth $1,000 a day for life. A second-prize winner matches the five game balls, but fails to match the Cash Ball.

Winners can take a one-time lump-sum payment or opt to draw the prize in annual installments. Officials said Plummer, who could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday, opted to take the payouts in annual installments of $33,852 — after the required tax withholdings.

“I’m just in shock with everything and amazed,” Plummer said in a statement released Thursday, adding: “I am overwhelmed.”

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”