A man listed as one of the state's most dangerous sex offenders has won $10 million in the Massachusetts lottery, but the attention may have landed him in new trouble.
Daniel Snay had been living and working in Massachusetts since 2004. In January, he paid $20 for a "Billion Dollar Blockbuster" scratch ticket at a suburban convenience store and hit the jackpot.
He picked up the first of 20 annual checks for $500,000 on Jan. 30. And the Massachusetts Lottery Commission said he gambled legally. But his story caught the attention of police in neighboring Connecticut, where Snay had lived for several years and where, officials said, he never informed authorities he was moving out of state.
Connecticut Trooper William Tate said Snay could face up to five years in prison if convicted of failing to notify authorities of his change of address, a felony. He said Snay hadn't confirmed his address for the Connecticut sex offender registry since May 2004, though that state requires address verification every 90 days.
"We're trying to determine when he moved, why he didn't register with us and whether any charges are warranted," Tate said.
Snay, 56, a divorced father of five, was convicted several times of indecent assault and battery from 1974 to 1987. Two of the assaults were on a child under the age of 14.
Snay's lawyer, Joseph Fabbricotti, said that when Snay moved from Connecticut, he believed he had to register only in the state where he was moving.
"If that is incorrect, we'll have to fix it," Fabbricotti said. "He wasn't running. He's been living here for four years."
He is classified in Massachusetts as a Level 3 offender, people deemed most dangerous or most likely to re-offend.
Uxbridge Police Chief Scott Freitas said Snay's lottery winnings have caused some "conversations" in town, but not an uproar. "In this particular case, he isn't forbidden from gambling," Freitas said.
Snay is a truck driver for Certified Sales Inc., a boat dealership in Mendon. There was no immediate response Monday to a message left for him there seeking comment.
One of the company's owners, Brian Bethel, said Snay has been employed there on and off for 40 years.
He said Snay plans to use the money to pay for his children's education. "He could have taken the money and left, but he's still working," Bethel said.
It is the second time in recent months that a convicted felon has won the Massachusetts lottery. Last month, a judge approved an agreement allowing a convicted bank robber to keep a $1 million lottery prize even though his probation terms prohibited him from gambling.