Powerball ticket worth $2M sold in Westmoreland County

PITTSBURGH — A Powerball ticket worth $2 million from the April 25 drawing was sold at a Westmoreland County Giant Eagle, lottery officials announced Thursday.

The winning ticket correctly matched all five white balls but not the red Powerball. The retailer, at 105 Robertson St., West Newton, will receive a $10,000 bonus for selling this winning ticket.

Lottery officials cannot confirm the identity of the winner until the prize is claimed and the ticket is validated. No claim has yet been filed.

Pennsylvania Lottery Powerball winners have one year from the drawing date to claim prizes. Each jackpot winner has 60 days from the date he or she claims the prize to decide between receiving 30 annuity payments over 29 years or a one-time cash payment.

The Lottery encourages the holder of the jackpot-winning ticket to sign the back of the ticket, contact a financial advisor, then call the Lottery at 717-702-8146.  Powerball jackpot prizes must be claimed at Lottery headquarters, 1200 Fulling Mill Road, Middletown, Dauphin County.  Claims may be filed between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The Newsstand at the Gallery, at Ninth and Market streets in Philadelphia, sold the single jackpot-winning ticket for the $172.7 million April 25 Powerball drawing, the Pennsylvania Lottery announced Thursday.

"We're excited to have sold this jackpot-winning Powerball ticket in Pennsylvania, and this will be the second Powerball jackpot we get to award in just five months," said Lottery Executive Director Todd Rucci. "Today also marks the 23^rd anniversary of the April 26, 1989, Super 7 drawing that awarded $115.5 million to 14 winning tickets and still holds the record as the largest jackpot awarded by the Lottery."

Wednesday’s jackpot-winning Powerball ticket correctly matched all five white balls, 04-25-29-34-43, plus the red Powerball, 29. The winning ticket has an annuity value of $172.7 million and a cash value of $107,533,278.27.

“Not only does Powerball allow the Pennsylvania Lottery exciting opportunities to create new millionaires, but Pennsylvania Lottery Powerball sales this fiscal year have generated more than $62 million for programs that benefit older Pennsylvanians,” Rucci added. “Last fiscal year, the Lottery contributed nearly $215 million to programs that benefited Philadelphia’s older residents.”

The Newsstand at the Gallery in Philadelphia, a Pennsylvania Lottery retailer since 2001, will receive a $100,000 bonus for selling the jackpot-winning ticket.

For the Saturday drawing, the Powerball jackpot returns to an estimated $40 million annuity and $24.9 million cash prize.

Pennsylvania has sold 15 jackpot-winning tickets since joining Powerball, including Wednesday’s winning ticket. The most recent jackpot-winning ticket sold in Pennsylvania was for the Nov. 19, 2011, drawing, when a $37.6 million cash prize was awarded to a Luzerne County man.

WPXI