Eddie Tipton, the former security chief for the Multi-State Lottery Association, won ,000 from two “2by2” lottery tickets he bought in December 2010 while traveling through Kansas. During the same month Tipton reportedly purchased the Hot Lotto ticket worth .3 million from a Des Moines QuikTrip that led to his conviction in July on two fraud charges. Plus, Kansas is the fifth state where Tipton allegedly fixed games to enrich himself and associates, Iowa Assistant Attorney General Rob Sand recently disclosed in court documents. Sand said the evidence will show associates of Tipton who claimed the prizes gave ,000 to Tipton in early 2011.
Iowa investigators asked Kansas Lottery officials to look into the 2010 ticket purchases in early December. The alleged ticket-fixing occurred at the Multi-State Lottery Association headquarters in Urbandale, Iowa. Kansas Lottery Executive Director Terry Presta said, “The Kansas Lottery had no way of knowing that Mr. Tipton was purchasing these tickets, nor that any manipulations of the random number generator in Iowa might have occurred. The Kansas Lottery’s investigations are ongoing as more information becomes available from Iowa as to the extent of Mr. Tipton’s alleged criminal acts. We will continue to look for any possible intrusions into our gaming systems. The integrity of our games and security to our players remains paramount.” The Kansas Attorney General’s Office has launched a criminal investigation.
At his job at the MUSL, a nonprofit vendor that manages lotteries for 37 states and territories, Tipton oversaw random number generators that pick winning numbers for games like Hot Lotto, Mega Millions and Powerball. Prosecutors claim Tipton used his access to the machines to secretly install software programs that would inform him in advance of the winning numbers, and that his associates, including his brother, Texas judge Tommy Tipton, and Texas businessman Robert Rhodes, would play those numbers and collect prizes. The scam dated back to 2005.
Tipton was convicted of fraud in July for fixing a $14.3 million Hot Lotto jackpot in 2010. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison but is free on appeal. In that case, Tipton fixed the winning numbers then bought the tickets at a gas station near his office, and passed the winning ticket to Rhodes, who tried—unsuccessfully–to collect the prize. Rhodes is fighting extradition back to Iowa to face charges in the case.
Since his conviction, Iowa prosecutors have charged Tipton with ongoing criminal conduct and money laundering for allegedly fixing jackpots worth $8 million in Colorado, Wisconsin and Oklahoma and now Kansas.
Tipton attorney Dean Stowers said there is no evidence that Tipton tampered with the computers. He added the new charges are a publicity stunt to bring more attention to the case. “If you look at what they are claiming they have found after the first trial, you would think these investigators must be completely incompetent,” he said. He stated if state lotteries claim the games were rigged, “What is their obligation to the players? Obviously they were running games that weren’t legitimate and collected all this money from people and spent it,” Stowers said.
In addition, Stowers argued any charges relating to older jackpots should be barred by the three-year statute of limitations. In response, Sand wrote the statute has not expired and the criminal conspiracy was still ongoing when Tommy Tipton testified at the July trial that a hooded man captured on QuikTrip surveillance was not his brother.
