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It’s sweet justice.

A 68-year-old New York judge recently took home $3 million — from a scratch-off lottery ticket.

Salina Town Justice Andrew Piraino says he was buying his daily newspapers one day last month when he noticed a new lottery scratch-off game and decided to spend $10 on a ticket to test his luck.

Piraino bought the Triple Red 777 ticket at Kieffer’s Cigar Shop in Liverpool on Sept. 9 and went to his car to scratch it off, he told Syracuse.com.

“It looked interesting, and it was a new game,” said Piraino, who is also a lawyer.

“I think it was out only about a week at the time. I asked, and it cost $10 for a ticket.”

The central New York justice said he figured that if he won back the $10 it cost, he would just go buy another ticket.

Then he matched his numbers and won the grand prize of $3 million.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I was kind of shocked.”

He said he brought his ticket into his law office to see if others thought he was reading it right. Then he made an appointment with the state Lottery’s regional office to get his win registered.

Piraino took his winnings as a lump sum and will reportedly receive $1.5 million after taxes.

“Now I tell everyone that they know somebody who had paid $800,000 in taxes,” he quipped.

Piraino has been a town judge for 29 years. He said he plans to put most of his lottery earnings toward retirement.

But he said he also plans to gift some of his prize to his 27-year-old daughter, who was recently married, and buy his wife a new four-wheel-drive van.

Word of his winnings has begun to circle amongst friends, many of whom are calling to congratulate him.

“I keep telling them I don’t have the money yet,” he said.

The game Piraino won, Triple Red 777, offers four top prizes of $3 million. The chances of winning a prize are 1 in 4.24, and the chance of winning a top prize is 1 in 4,629,000.

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