$24M Lottery Ticket Found Crumpled In Shirt Pocket A Year After Being Bought In NYC

NEW YORK, NY — An almost-expired lottery ticket bought in a Tribeca store has made a New Jersey grandfather a multi-millionaire – after he found the year old winner among a pile of crumpled tickets in his shirt pocket.

The winner of the $24.1 million prize had no idea of his riches until he saw a plea on the local news from New York Lottery officials trying to find the person who bought the ticket on May 25, 2016. Jimmie Smith, 68, a father of two and grandfather of 12 from East Orange, New Jersey, searched a closet where he had hung an old, favorite shirt with a pocket full of unchecked tickets.

(For more neighborhood news, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

“I ended up with a stack – a pile of tickets – including the one they were talking about on the news,” Smith, a retired security guard, said. “I stood there for a minute thinking, ‘Do I see what I think I see?’

"I had to stick my head out the window and breathe in some fresh air. I was in serious doubt. I really had to convince myself this was real.”

Smith – who bought his lucky ticket at Renu Corp Grocery & Tobacco at 158 Church Street in Tribeca, claimed his prize two days before it reached its expiration, which happens a year after the winning draw.

“I always told myself, ‘I’ll check them when I have the time,’” Smith said.

Smith said after things settle down, he plans to have an “all-family discussion” about what to do with the windfall, lottery officials said.

With reporting by Eric Keifer/Patch

• Photo: New York Lottery