Massachusetts woman wins $25 million lottery prize, nearly 20 years after she won $1 million

DORCHESTER, Massachusetts — Desiree Fortini-Craft has a way with beating the odds.

The Massachusetts woman recently collected a $25 million grand prize in the Massachusetts State Lottery’s “Billion Dollar Extravaganza,” a $50 instant game. She opted for the one-time payment of $16.25 million before taxes, according to a news release from the Massachusetts State Lottery.

The odds of winning the $25 million prize are just over 1 in 10 million.

What makes Fortini-Craft’s win even more remarkable is it’s not the first time she’s taken home a large lottery prize. In 2006, she hit for $1 million, according to the lottery.

After her most recent win, Fortini-Craft decided to hide the ticket, then took a vacation to Aruba. She claimed the prize when she returned from her vacation.

She said she and her fiancé, Jason Perkins, plan on having a “really good Christmas in Aruba,” the news release says. She also plans to pay off student loans for her three daughters and to buy a new car, among some other “big family purchases.”

The ticket was purchased at Baker Street Market, 419 Baker St., West Roxbury, Mass. The store receives a $50,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.