Eddie Tipton Convicted - On Monday, Eddie Tipton, 52, of Iowa was found guilty of fraud after rigging a Hot Lotto game in order to win the $14 million jackpot prize. To be able to cash the prize, Tipton reportedly left the task to acquaintances to keep his identity hidden.
Eddie Tipton was convicted by jurors after five hours of deliberation. The trial took a week to finish. A former information security director for the Multi-State Lottery Association, he was charged with two counts of fraud, according to The Des Moines Register.
Eddie Tipton was able to rig the Hot Lotto drawing by installing "rootkit," a computer program, on the system. This would have provided him with the $14 million winning ticket at the Hot Lotto drawing on Dec. 29, 2010. The computer program is self-deleting, therefore Tipton could have gotten away with the felony, according to USA Today.
Authorities became suspicious of Eddie Tipton, convicted later, after Canada and New York lawyers tried claiming the jackpot prize. However, neither was able to provide the identity of the winner and since then an investigation was conducted. Tipton never received the money.
The Daily Mail reported that the prize money was returned to the states participating in Hot Lotto.
A video of Eddie Tipton eventually surfaced, identifying him as the culprit. In the video, the 52-year-old bought the ticket at a Des Moines QuikTrip and wore a hoodie as a disguise. The video of Eddie Tipton was publicized October 2010, according to the New York Daily News.
Prosecutors claim Tipton was not seen installing the rootkit on the security camera since he is one of five people who could program the cameras and change the way they record on that day. He had been employed at the Multi-State Lottery Association since 2003. In 2013, he was promoted to information security director.
Until his sentence on Sept. 9, Eddie Tipton is free on bond. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for the lottery scheme. However, his defense lawyer Dean Stowers said evidence against him is insufficient since the computer program that rigged the game that day had been auto-deleted. Stowers plans to make an appeal, reported Headlines & Global News.
Hot Lotto is available in 14 states as well as the District of Columbia.
