LIFE CHANGING EVENT FOR POWERBALL WINNER JOHN LORUSSO

Powerball lottery winner Mr Lorusso, 43, attended the Connecticut Lottery Headquarters in New Britain and appeared very composed as he was presented with his ceremonial cheque. The winner told reporters: “Never in my life did I expect to have such a life changing event. It’s an opportunity for just a whole different set of circumstances”.

Winners have sixty days to weigh up whether they should select a one-time cash lump sum or the 29-year, 30-installment annuity, Mr Lorusso, a co-owner of a commercial printing company, opted for the cash lump sum payout of $4,924,953 (prize value after taxes).

NEW FRIENDS

Mr Lorusso joked about his new status as the latest Powerball winner from Connecticut: “I have more friends than I had before,” he said jokingly. Apparently he has been a Powerball player for about three years, playing twice per week. The winning Powerball quick pick ticket was sold at The Squaw Hollow Xtra Mart, 9 Nott Highway at the junction of Route 44 and 74 in Ashford.

For selling the jackpot winning ticket Xtra Mart will receive a $100,000 bonus payment from the Connecticut Lottery.

MOMENT OF TRUTH FOR POWERBALL WINNER JOHN LORUSSO

Revealing how he found out about the win Mr Lorusso explained.“They’ve got the sign up, `The winning ticket was sold here,”’ Lorusso said. He then asked for a printout of the winning numbers and brought it to his where he compared them to the numbers on his own ticket. “These look a lot like the numbers,” he said he thought to himself. And as we know now, in that moment he became a millionaire!

Apparently there are no firm plans for the money, but he wants to be smart with it and invest wisely. One family request has already been turned down. His son requested a flat screen TV – instead he received a flat ‘no’!

This is the fifth Powerball jackpot won from a ticket sold in the state of Connecticut since 1995. The last jackpot prize in Connecticut took place in June 2005 when an electronics salesman from Seymour won $59.5 million.