Has little practical impact on case
DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Supreme Court has dismissed the conviction of an Iowa man who just last week pleaded guilty in federal court to charges related with rigging lottery computers in order to win jackpots.
The court issued a ruling Friday dismissing Eddie Tipton's conviction for tampering with lottery equipment. The ruling said the statute of limitations on one of the counts against him had expired and improper instructions given on the other count could have influenced the jury.
Eddie Tipton entered a guilty plea in federal court to theft by fraud and computer crime in Wisconsin last week. He has also agreed to admit to ongoing criminal conduct charges in Iowa later this month.
Friday's ruling ordering a retrial for Eddie Tipton in the 2010 Hot Lotto jackpot is a victory for his defense but might have little practical impact.
Iowa prosecutors already agreed this month to vacate the conviction under the plea agreement and not pursue further action against Eddie Tipton.
Officials say while he was the Information Security Director for the Multi-State Lottery Association, Tipton tampered with the computers that are designed to randomly choose the winning jackpot numbers. His crime came to light following an investigation into a winning Hot Lotto ticket for a 2010 $16 million jackpot. Tipton bought the ticket and tried to claim it through several avenues, while remaining anonymous. The jackpot wasn't able to be claimed before the deadline expired.
Tipton's brother Tommy Tipton and other associates were also linked to rigged lottery jackpots in several other states.
Timeline of the biggest crime in US lottery history
The following is a compilation of Lottery Post news coverage chronicling the Hot Lotto mystery and subsequently discovered crime.
We start the timeline with a news story indicating that only 3 months remained for the $16 million Hot Lotto jackpot to be claimed.
2011
- Deadline for claiming $16.5M Hot Lotto jackpot nears, Sep. 21, 2011
- Unclaimed Iowa lottery jackpot to expire Dec. 29, Dec. 1, 2011
- Iowa $16.5M Hot Lotto winner claims prize with two hours to spare, Dec. 29, 2011
2012
- Iowa Lottery security chief bent on determining identity of jackpot winner, Jan. 10, 2012
- NY lawyer in lottery mystery travels to Iowa this week, Jan. 17, 2012
- Iowa Lottery security chief to grill NY lawyer over Hot Lotto ticket, Jan. 17, 2012
- Representative of Hot Lotto winner named in lawsuit, Jan. 20, 2012
- Hot Lotto trust representative won't name winner, Jan. 20, 2012
- Iowa Lottery threatens to deny jackpot payout if winner stays anonymous, Jan. 23, 2012
- Lawyer gives up $14 million Iowa lottery ticket claim, Jan. 26, 2012
- $14.3 million Hot Lotto prize claim withdrawn, Jan. 27, 2012
- Iowa Legislators satisfied with Lottery's handling of mystery jackpot winner, Feb. 1, 2012
- Iowa Lottery to give away millions from jackpot mystery, Feb. 26, 2012
- Iowa Lottery director: 50-50 that Hot Lotto mystery will be solved, Aug. 9, 2012
- Iowa officials trying to solve lotto mystery, may release surveillance video, Aug. 19, 2012
2013
- 1 year later, Iowa Lottery still hunting for suspicious no-show winner, Jan. 30, 2013
- Inquiry in Iowa Lottery mystery touches Canada, Jul. 26, 2013
- Lottery jackpot probe heats up after immunity deal, Oct. 8, 2013
2014
- Iowa Lottery still hunting mystery Hot Lotto winner [video], Oct. 10, 2014
2015
- MUSL employee arrested in Hot Lotto jackpot mystery, Jan. 15, 2015
- BOMBSHELL: MUSL employee might have rigged Hot Lotto computerized drawing, Apr. 13, 2015
- Texas man charged in Iowa lottery case contests extradition, Apr. 20, 2015
- Extradition trial begins this week in $16.5M Hot Lotto fraud case, Jun. 7, 2015
- Inside the biggest lottery scam ever, Jul. 7, 2015
- Trial underway in world's biggest lottery fraud case, Jul. 14, 2015
- Lottery security chief: Rigging computerized game "sadly" possible, Jul. 15, 2015
- Prosecution rests in Hot Lotto trial, Jul. 16, 2015
- Defense quickly wraps up in Hot Lotto trial, Jul. 16, 2015
- Hot Lotto case moves to jury for deliberations, Jul. 17, 2015
- Former lottery security employee guilty of rigging $14.3M drawing, Jul. 20, 2015
- MUSL security worker who rigged drawing gets 10 years, Sep. 9, 2015
- HOT LOTTO DRAWING CHEAT CHARGED WITH RIGGING MORE JACKPOTS, Oct. 9, 2015
- Texas authorities had previously investigated brother of lottery cheat, Oct. 14, 2015
- Another $1.2M Hot Lotto jackpot rigged by Tipton, officials say, Nov. 21, 2015
- Jackpot-fixing investigation expands to more state lotteries, Dec. 18, 2015
- Prosecutors say Tipton rigged two jackpots he purchased tickets for in Kansas, Dec. 21, 2015
- Maine gives names of Hot Lotto winners to Iowa team looking into rigging scheme, Dec. 23, 2015
- S.C. Lottery assures public no computerized drawings used in state, Dec. 23, 2015
- Kansas lottery players questioning game's integrity, Dec. 23, 2015
- MUSL CHIEF OUSTED OVER JACKPOT-RIGGING SCANDAL, Dec. 23, 2015
- Lottery scandal unlikely to affect New Mexico, official says, Dec. 26, 2015
- Tipton granted delay in next trial until July, Dec. 29, 2015
2016
- Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich to answer lottery player questions live Monday evening, Jan. 11, 2016
- First lawsuit in state lottery-fixing scandal seeks millions, Feb. 4, 2016
- MUSL seeks to dismiss lawsuit over rigged jackpot, Apr. 1, 2016
- Lottery scammer's brother facing criminal charges, Apr. 6, 2016
- Investigators find Tipton's software code to rig computerized lottery drawings, Apr. 7, 2016
- Lottery rigging scandal prompts security audit in South Dakota, Apr. 13, 2016
- Preliminary hearing rescheduled for Tommy Tipton in lottery rigging case, Apr. 22, 2016
- Third suspect surrenders in national lottery rigging scandal, Apr. 28, 2016
- Lottery scam investigation comes to Tennessee, May 11, 2016
- Investigators find another friend of Tipton who cashed rigged lottery prize, May 11, 2016
- Convicted computerized drawing fraudster argues Iowa court appeal, Jun. 16, 2016
- US Senate panel demands info in lottery scandal, Jun. 22, 2016
- Lottery rigging trial to be moved out of Des Moines, Jun. 27, 2016
- Eddie Tipton's new trial delayed until 2017, Jul. 1, 2016
- Iowa court reverses part of Tipton's lottery fraud conviction, Jul. 28, 2016
- Internal investigation concludes Tipton acted alone to rig lottery drawings, Aug. 10, 2016
- Prosecutors say 2 more men may be linked to lottery riggings, Aug. 24, 2016
- Judge: winner's lawsuit in lottery-fixing case can continue, Oct. 13, 2016
- Alleged lottery scandal conspirator to enter new plea, Nov. 14, 2016
- Accused lottery rigger Eddie Tipton facing new Wisconsin charges, Dec. 22, 2016
2017
- Man files lawsuit over rigged lottery jackpots, Jan. 4, 2017
- Trials for Tipton brothers charged in lottery scandal delayed, Jan. 8, 2017
- Former MUSL official received severance amid lottery jackpot scandal, Jan. 10, 2017
- Texas man pleads guilty to fraud in lottery scandal case, Jan. 11, 2017
- Iowa Supreme Court hears lottery rigging case, Feb. 14, 2017
- Kansas files lawsuit against accused lottery rigger, Mar. 16, 2017
- Best friend to testify against Tipton at July lottery rigging trial, Mar. 31, 2017
- Mastermind of lottery fraud will explain how he rigged jackpots, Jun. 12, 2017
- FBI missed rigged jackpot in 2006 before lottery scheme grew, Jun. 19, 2017
- The 5 lottery jackpots Tipton and his friends stole, Jun. 20, 2017
What the...
Now he is going to use this case to try to get all of the other convictions dismissed.
Don't think he will do much time. It's not like he murdered someone anyway. Fraud will perhaps give him 5-10 years in prison.
It is way more than fraud. I say 20 years. His actions had an effect in trust in the lottery system as well. This was also repeat criminal conduct that went on for years.
He was convicted in Iowa and appealed. The Iowa court dismissed one count because it was outside the SOL. The other count they reversed bc of jury instruction error and ordered a retrial. However, while the appeal was pending, Tipton pled guilty in Federal court and the Iowa prosecutors agreed to dismiss the Iowa charges because of his federal plea. He got away with nothing.
So he gets to keep the money he won?
Lawyers are always trying to run the clock out when their client is guilty.
RL
In a news article titled "
Five times computer programmer Eddie Tipton rigged lottery draws - and won millions"
“Accused of installing software on Random Number Generators that allowed him to predict winning combinations for drawings that occurred on three dates every non-leap year — Nov. 23, Dec. 29 and May 27”
Do you think he wasn’t greedy enough to buy a ticket on all the winning days. Believe me that is all he got caught on.
What makes me sick is…
“The brothers will repay $3 million to Colorado, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Kansas.”
Other news sources say it is a total of 3 million for all the states combined. I’m sure they have a lot more than that.
They get to keep all the lottery money they couldn’t discover was stolen.
The Judge Tommy Tipton, gets to be a judge still, because of a misdemeanor…
“Tommy Tipton's attorney, Mark Weinhardt, said his client was pleased to reach a "sensible resolution" in which he'll serve 75 days after pleading to a misdemeanor.”
These are taken from multiple news sources including one titled
"
Ex-lottery worker in Iowa convicted of rigging system to win $14 million"
Tipton, of Norwalk, had been working for the Des Moines-based Multi-State Lottery Association since 2003 and was promoted to information security director in 2013. The nonprofit association is operated by 37 mostly state-run lotteries to oversee picking numbers for various games and other lottery game administrative functions.
The Tiptons and friend Robert Rhodes bought winning numbers for drawings in Colorado, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma between 2005 and 2011
Notice he had manipulated the computers before he became Director. How did he get such access?
I’m just disgusted so much that I don’t want to play the lottery anymore, and I don’t!
I’m sure others would feel the same, and that’s why lottery associations sweep all that they can under the rug and the rest they won’t investigate for fear of finding negative news.
He's a greedy rogue with a couple friends for helpers who got stupid and got caught.
I think the biggest lesson learned from all this is just how vulnerable RNG lottery draws are. Yet, there are lotteries that refuse to change to ball drawn games.
Just play lottery games that are ball drawn and stay away from RNG games. That simple.
They get to keep all the lottery money they couldn’t discover was stolen.
He was stealing from legitimate players who thought they were playing a fair game. All of them should have been sent to jail.
If they cant prove it's stolen, then no, they shouldnt take it. However, they will have to make restitution on the money they did steal plus the courts, especially the feds, levee huge fines on sentenced defendants.