Lottery Scandal: Ex-Programmer Pleads Guilty To Rigging Jackpots

DES MOINES, IOWA — A former lottery computer programmer has pleaded guilty in Iowa to running a criminal scheme that allowed him to collect millions of dollars in lottery winnings in four other states.

Former Multi-State Lottery Association security director Eddie Tipton on Thursday admitted that he manipulated the computer software he designed, allowing him to provide winning numbers to his brother and others.

Tipton, his brother Tommy Tipton and Texas businessman Robert Rhodes will repay $2.2 million in prizes they improperly claimed in Colorado, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Kansas. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Iowa prosecutors will ask for a 25-year prison sentence for Eddie Tipton.

Tommy Tipton also pleaded guilty Thursday in Iowa and was sentenced to 75 days in jail.

By David Pitt, Associated Press

Photo credit: Charlie Neibergall, Associated Press; Rodney White/The Des Moines Register via AP