Ex-Insider Allegedly Rigged Lottery Drawings to Win Millions

Eddie Tipton is tied to potentially rigged drawings in five states
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 23, 2016 4:49 PM CST
Former Lottery Insider Charged With Rigging Drawings
Eddie Tipton has been charged with rigging the lottery in two states and has been tied to potentially rigged drawings in three others.   (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

A former head of lottery security tied to potentially rigged drawings in five states is facing new charges in Wisconsin, NBC News reports. According to the Des Moines Register, six charges were filed against Eddie Tipton on Thursday. They include racketeering, theft by fraud, and computer crimes, Fox 6 News reports. Tipton used to be the director of IT security for Multi-State Lottery Association, which handles lottery picks and security in 37 states. Authorities allege Tipton meddled with the code for the association's number-generating machines to cause them to pick certain numbers on certain days. Last year, he was charged with messing with the number generators to win a $14.3 million drawing in Iowa in 2010.

Now Tipton is being charged with doing the same thing three years earlier to win more than $783,000 in Wisconsin. Tipton's alleged accomplice, Robert Rhodes, is also facing charges in Wisconsin and Iowa. Authorities say Tipton would provide Rhodes with rigged numbers and have him buy the tickets. They would allegedly split the winnings. Investigators in Iowa have also linked Tipton, Rhodes, and Tipton's brother to lottery wins in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. (More lottery stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X