Making money off Bernie Madoff!

Bernie Madoff's pain is a Queens man's gain as Ponzi schemer's jail number is a Lotto winner
BY Erin Durkin DAILY NEWS WRITER
Tuesday, March 24th 2009Ralph Amendolaro of Glendale, Queens, scored $1,500 lottery win playing last three digits of Bernie Madoff's prison number. (Marino for News)

Someone is finally making some money off Bernie Madoff.

A Queens construction worker used the swindler's prison number to play the lottery and won $1,500.

Ralph Amendolaro, 50, noticed the digits under Madoff's mug on the front page of the Daily News the day after he pleaded guilty - 61727-054.

When he stopped at a corner store near his Glendale home on March 13, he played the last three digits in the New York State Lottery's Numbers game.

"I'm going to be a winner with this guy even though everyone lost money with him," Amendolaro thought at the time. "Somebody had to get a little lucky with him."

Although he's not a regular lottery player, Amendolaro occasionally buys a ticket when a number catches his eye.

The father of three placed a $3 bet for each of the next three days, and that Sunday, 054 came up.

The $1,500 prize is a 16,000% return on his $9 investment - far more than even Madoff promised his bilked.