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Big Lottery ‘winner’ big Eddie Tipton, facing 25 years in prison for big time rigging of jackpot – former Lotto worker installed stealth software to hijack winning numbers

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Ex-lottery worker, Eddie Tipton, facing quarter century in prison sentence for rigging jackpots 
Computer programmer Tipton was in charge of the code generating random winning numbers at the Iowa Lotto Association
Prosecutors said the he inserted a stealth program that randomly picked the numbers then deleted it so it could not be detected
In July 2015, Tipton was convicted for rigging a computerized Hot Lotto game so he could win a $14million jackpot
He tried to get acquaintances to cash the prize for him without revealing his identity
The scam failed and he was charged with two counts of fraud
Arrested in 2015, he confessed to fixing the jackpot six different times between 2005 and 2011
Tipton was found guilty of rigging lotteries in five states, winning $2m at that time
Tipton worked for the Multi-State Lottery Association in De Moines, Iowa, building computers used to randomly pick numbers for the most popular lottery games 
Sentencing scheduled for Tuesday, faces up to 25 years in prison for his jackpot rigging

Eddie Tipton1.jpgEddie Tipton

Former Iowa lottery worker, Eddie Tipton, has been convicted for rigging jackpots across five different states and netting $2million over the course of six years.
Tipton, 54, spent a decade working with the Multi-State Lottery Association in central Iowa, is facing 25 years in prison jackpot rigging.
At the Lotto association the computer programmer was entrusted with building computers used to randomly pick numbers for some of the most popular lottery games in the United States.
He rigged the system, secretly installing software that allowed him to pick winning numbers and was collecting money from jackpots in multiple states.
Tipton’s luck ran out when he was arrested in 2015, later admitting he fixed the lottery six times in five different states between 2005 and 2011, netting $2million.
The De Moines man is scheduled for sentencing on Tuesday and faces a 25-year prison sentence for his jackpot rigging.

Eddie Tipton6.jpgTipton with one of his attorneys, Nicholas Sarcone (right), as they left court during his trial at the Polk County Courthouse in Des Moines, Iowa in July 2015

The Prosecutors said Eddie Tipton inserted a stealth program into the computer that randomly picked the numbers then deleted it so it could not be detected.
The disgraced computer programmer admitted in June to masterminding a multistate lottery-rigging scheme that let him pick winning numbers and rake in $2 million.
Eddie Tipton who was arrested in 2015, is scheduled for sentencing Tuesday.
“The depth of his deceit is dumbfounding,” Iowa Assistant Attorney General Rob Sand said in court filings seeking the 25-year term.
“Such crimes cannot be answered without a prison sentence.”
Tipton admitted to fixing the lottery six times in five different states between 2005 and 2011.
He told investigators how he secretly installed computer software that allowed him to pick numbers and roped in his brother Tommy Tipton, a friend, Robert Rhodes, and others to buy the tickets.

Tommy Tipton 3.png Tommy Tipton, 52, was arrested after evidence revealed he manipulated drawings in Oklahoma and Colorado worth $1.2million

Tommy Tipton is serving a 75-day sentence in Texas, and Rhodes will be sentenced on August 2.
‘The depth of his deceit is dumbfounding,’ Assistant Iowa Attorney General Rob Sand said in court filings. ‘Such crimes cannot be answered without a prison sentence.’
Tipton hit his first fixed jackpot in Colorado in 2005 and embarked on building himself a 4,800-square-foot house with a movie theater and gym on 22 acres with a pond outside of Des Moines.
Over the course of the next six years, Tipton would go on to fix lottery games across five states, netting more than $2million. Yet his employer trusted him so much that he was promoted in 2013 to head information security, placing him in charge of protecting the very lottery computer systems he had been cheating.

Eddie Tipton2.jpg Former Information technonology guru and cyber security expert for Iowa lottery, Eddie Tipton will be sentenced Tuesday. he faces up to 25 yearsin prison

In July 2015, Tipton was found guilty of rigging a computerized Hot Lotto game so he could win a $14million jackpot then trying to get acquaintances to cash the prize for him without revealing his identity.
Although Tipton never got his hands on the winning total, he was charged with two counts of fraud and jurors found him guilty after just five hours of deliberation.
Further investigation into Tipton’s rigging activity revealed his other winnings.
He pleaded guilty in June after denying wrongdoing since his 2015 arrest.
His attorney is seeking a sentence of no more than three to four years in prison, arguing that his client is unfairly being treated far more harshly than other people involved in the scheme.
He admitted to masterminding the lottery rigging scheme as part of a plea deal reached with Sand to resolve charges in all states from which he had won jackpots.
Tipton’s luck ran out when he was found guilty in 2015, later admitting that he fixed the lottery six times in five different states between 2005 and 2011.
Tipton agreed to detail for authorities how he altered the computers, reveal all the games he had fixed and who helped him.
Sand said Tipton, in a two-day interview, answered all the questions, but often minimized and rationalized the criminal nature of his actions and their effects.
Tipton admitted fixing the Colorado Lotto in November 2005, Megabucks in Wisconsin in December 2007, 2by2 in Kansas and Hot Lotto in Iowa in December 2010, and Hot Lotto in Oklahoma in November 2011.

Tommy Tipton and Robert Rhodes 1.pngTipton enlisted the help of his brother Tommy Tipton (left) and friend Robert Rhodes (right) in helping him to buy tickets

Tipton recruited his brother Tommy Tipton, a former Texas judge; a friend, Texas businessman Robert Rhodes; and others to buy tickets using numbers he provided.
Tommy Tipton is serving a 75-day jail sentence in Texas after pleading guilty in June to conspiracy to commit theft by deception.
Rhodes, of Sugar Land, Texas, pleaded guilty to a computer crime and will be sentenced on Aug. 25.
The Texas businessman has pled guilty to using inside information from a lottery official to win a $783,000 Wisconsin jackpot in 2007.
Robert Rhodes admitted to being party to a computer crime, a felony. He had brought with him a $250,000 check to begin paying back the Wisconsin Lottery.

Robert Rhodes 2.jpgTexas businessman Robert Rhodes in court in Madison, Wisconsin

Rhodes’ plea agreement calls for him to serve six months of home confinement in Texas and pay $409,000 in restitution.
Investigators say Rhodes’ was friends with former Multi-State Lottery Association information technology official Eddie Tipton, who wrote software used to randomly pick numbers for lottery games. He allegedly supplied Rhodes with the winning combination in the 2007 Megabucks game. They allegedly split the $783,000 payout.
Eddie Tipton’s attorney, Dean Stowers, said in court documents that Tipton was bullied by Sand into a plea agreement that requires him to repay the full $2million in ill-gotten winnings to the four states but claims that Tipton personally only ended up with no more than $351,000.
Tipton admitted as part of his plea that in 2005 he added two extra routines to the computer coded that generated the random numbers, allowing him to predict numbers on specific drawing days.
Sand said Tipton’s actions corrupted the entire industry and destroyed the promise to players that all tickets have an equal chance to win, though his disclosures may help lotteries improve security systems.

lEddie Tipton was caughtt on tape buying the lottery ticket 2.jpgEddie Tipton[photo, in hoodie], was caught after buying a winning ticket for a Hot Lotto ticket in Iowa in December 2010. He was prohibited from playing the lottery.  

The Multi-State Lottery Association provides computers for lotteries in 33 states the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The computers are designed to randomly draw numbers in several games, including Powerball, Mega Millions and Hot Lotto. Players have sued the association alleging they were defrauded by Tipton’s scheme.
Tipton was caught after buying a winning ticket for a Hot Lotto ticket in Iowa in December 2010, even though he was prohibited from playing the lottery.

Iowa Lotto office.jpgTipton worked at the Multi-State Lottery Association in De Moines [photo]. He he wrote programmes used to randomly pick numbers for some of the most popular lottery games

Eddie Tipton had asked Rhodes to help him collect the jackpot, which was worth $14 million after taxes. Rhodes recruited others to attempt to anonymously redeem the ticket, but Iowa won’t pay jackpots without proof of who bought the ticket – a policy Sand credits with uncovering Tipton’s multi-state lottery rigging scheme.

Tipton’s defense attorney, Stowers, alleges that Rhodes stole money from his client, that people who haven’t been charged stole numbers from Tipton’s brother to win the Colorado Lotto, and that Tipton never received any of the Oklahoma winnings.
He said the lotteries have refused to pursue those who received the money. He also called sentences for Rhodes and Tommy Tipton ‘a slap on the wrist’ compared with what Sand is seeking for Eddie Tipton.
‘Defendant has clearly been left holding all the financial liability while the parties with the money are largely walking away untouched and unscathed with the states lifting not a single finger to recover the monies they received,’ Stowers wrote.
Sand maintains that a lengthy prison sentence for Tipton would serve as a deterrent to anyone else who might be considering such crimes.

 

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