$5M lotto crook’s luck ends

A man who stole a $5 million New York lottery ticket out of the real winner’s hand was sentenced to a maximum of up to 25 years in jail yesterday by a judge who denounced his “rapacious greed.”

Andy Ashkar, 35, of Syracuse, had waited six years to claim the prize in an apparent bid to avoid publicity and conceal his theft of the ticket from maintenance worker Robert Miles.

Miles bought the ticket at the Ashkar family’s convenience store in October 2006. After Ashkar realized its value, he told Miles it was worth only $5,000.

He gave Miles $4,000, saying the store was due a $1,000 fee, then swiped the ticket, authorities said. Miles didn’t complain because he thought it would be his word against Ashkar’s.

Just before the deadline for collecting the prize was to expire in early 2012, Ashkar tried to get lottery officials to give him a reduced prize and avoid a press conference.

Suspicious officials put him off for six months and then put out a press release about Ashkar’s prize. That got Miles’ attention.

“My friends were telling me, ‘Wow! That’s your money,’ ” Miles told the Syracuse PostStandard.

A cop heard about Miles and that led to Ashkar’s trial and conviction in May.

Prosecutors asked for a sentence of five to 15 years yesterday, but Judge Joseph Fahey gave Ashkar the maximum of 8¹/₃ to 25 years.