A court ruled Thursday that a Brooklyn man can keep all of his $10,000 lottery jackpot after officials tried to take half of it away to reimburse the state for public assistance he received in the past.

Walter Carver won his prize on a scratch-off ticket in 2007, but was ordered to fork over $5,000 to the state under a law that says the government can take half of any lottery prize over $600 from people on public assistance, according to the Albany Times Union.

Carver, however, was not on welfare — he earned his money by working at a state-subsidized job.

The state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, ruled that because he worked for the benefits, he could keep the money.

Some $35.9 million in state lottery winnings of public-assistance recipients has been taken back since August 2007, the paper said.