Annie Donnelly, a Long Island mom, blew up to $6,000 a day on lottery tickets on what is being called an out-of-control addiction she fueled by embezzling $2.3 million from her bosses, authorities say.
Donnelly, 38, pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny Wednesday for stealing $2.3 million over a 31/2-year period from Great South Bay Surgical Associates, reports Newsday.
She worked there as a bookkeeper.
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She would buy huge strips of $10 and $20 scratch-off tickets and thousands in lottery tickets on her way home - usually stopping at the same shop, reports AP.
"She played a lot of lotto," said a clerk at M&K Cards and Gifts in Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y. "I thought she had won a jackpot. Otherwise, no one could afford to play that much."
Donnelly has been behind bars since her arrest in June.
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Authorities are still trying to figure out how much she won playing the lottery. According to a statement by the state agency, lottery officials have contacted the Suffolk County district attorney's office to share information about the woman.
"While the New York Lottery has not located any record of prize claim(s) made by Annie Donnelly, records do indicate tens of thousands of dollars in prize claims made by a relative living at the same Farmingville address," the statement said.
"At this point, the New York Lottery has not been able to find evidence to substantiate any claim that Ms. Donnelly spent the reported embezzled amounts on lottery tickets."
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"She has a sickness," said her husband, Scott Donnelly, 42, of Farmingville.
The incredible scam started in 2002 when Annie Donnelly swiped about $41,000 from her job at Great South Bay Surgical Associates in Bay Shore, N.Y.
Her addiction exploded by last year, when she swindled the office out of $1.3 million, mostly by bogus checks.
--Jim Roberts with wire reports
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