September 07, 2012 -- East Haven resident Joseph Cleary became $2,000,000 richer today when he arrived at Lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill and claimed CT’s first Powerball® with Power Play® $2,000,000 prize for the September 5 drawing.  

The winning Powerball numbers drawn on September 5 were 4 - 19 - 26 - 42 - 51.  Cleary matched the first five numbers, but missed the Powerball number, 29.  Normally a $1,000,000 prize, Cleary had added the Power Play feature to his ticket for an extra $1 at the time of purchase, which automatically doubled his prize for a cool $2,000,000.

In total, 8,497 winning Powerball tickets were sold statewide for that date, with prizes ranging from $4 to $2,000,000.  

For selling Cleary his winning Powerball ticket, Forbes Premium Fuel, located at 863 N. High Street in East Haven, will receive a $2,000 bonus check from the CT Lottery.

Tom Hennessey, owner of Forbes Premium Fuel, was notably excited when he learned that they had sold a $2,000,000 prize winning ticket—by far their largest since becoming a lottery retailer in March 2004.  “We’re very happy for the winner…it’s really unbelievable,” Hennessey said.