Eddie Tipton, a former lottery security official, has been convicted on two counts of fraud after investigators discovered that he rigged games to win millions of dollars. According to officials at the Iowa Lottery, Mr. Tipton was caught on camera manipulating a computer hoping to obtain a winning ticket worth $14.3 million in the Hot Lotto.
Eddie Tipton, 52, an ex-lottery official, will be spending few years behind bars instead of living the high life with a $14.3 million fortune if some people have their way.
Maybe Tipton should have followed Eddie Coronado and use the law of attraction to win the lottery. Coronado claims that his strategies:
“….will help you manifest money, a new job, a life partner, a lucrative business or anything else that you can make a part of your beliefs and feelings.
Earlier today, a jury in Iowa found Eddie Tipton guilty on two counts of fraud despite the fact that there was little evidence to convict the former lottery security official. Tipton was accused of tampering with computer programs hoping to cash in few millions.
During the one week trial, the CEO of the Iowa Lottery, Terry Rich, yes, that is really his last name, provided a video that showed on December 29, 2010, Tipton or a man in a hoodie who looks like Tipton purchasing a winning ticket worth $14.3 million.
After buying the ticket, Tipton, who is aware that lottery officials are not allowed to play, turned it over to Robert Rhodes, a friend in Texas, and asked him to cash it. The friend never cashed the ticket, and the money was unclaimed for several months, which prompted authorities to open an investigation into the matter.
They discovered that one month prior to him purchasing the ticket, he “installed a self-deleting computer program, known as a rootkit, on a Hot Lotto drawing computer so he could orchestrate a winning ticket.” Assistant Attorney General of Iowa Rob Sand said after the verdict was read:
“I think that we had a very strong case of circumstantial evidence, so even though there was not direct evidence in the terms of what we can actually show about the computers since it had been wiped clean, they were still able to understand from all of the circumstances, the defendant`s guilt.”
Mr. Rich added:
“Our lottery has strong layers of security to protect lottery players, lottery games and lottery prizes.This case has provided our lottery with an opportunity to better pinpoint potential security risks and update our procedures to protect against them.”
Tipton’s Defense Attorney, Dean Stowers, plans to appeal because he is confident there was not enough evidence to convict his client. Stowers points to the fact that the video was blurry, the face of the man buying the ticket was never visible. Moreover, while co-workers are certain that person’s mannerisms matched Tipton’s, his siblings are adamant, it was not him. The attorney said:
“I think when you have a case where a jury is allowed to speculate as much as this jury was, you`re pretty likely to have this as one of your unfortunate outcomes, and that`s what happened.”
Tipton is due back in court on September 9 for his sentencing hearing and could face up to 10 years in prison.
Should Eddie Tipton go to prison?
