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A6 U.S. NEWS
Friday 30 June 2017

Mastermind of lottery fraud admits he rigged jackpots

Tipton, 54, said that when That led to an investiga-
he wrote the code, he be- tion into a potential lottery
lieved he was taking ad- fraud. Once Tipton was
vantage of a loophole in identified as a possible sus-
the random number soft- pect, investigators began
ware and he didn’t think it checking for connections
was illegal. to other winning games
Investigators say Tipton in- and zeroed in on winnings
stalled code that let the connected to Tipton, his
computers work as should brother and Rhodes in the
on all but three days of the other states. Tipton’s plea
year — May 27, Nov. 22 deal resolves his legal situ-
and Dec. 29 — when they ation in all of the affected
would produce predict- states. He could get up to
able numbers if the draw- 25 years in prison when he’s
ings occurred on Wednes- sentenced. A date hasn’t
days or Saturdays after been set and he remains
8 p.m.Tipton admitted in free on bond.
court that he provided co- Immediately after Tipton’s
horts with the winning num- hearing, his brother plead-
Eddie Tipton, the cyber security expert and brainpower behind a lottery rigging scandal that net-
ted $2 million in illegal winnings from five state lotteries pleaded guilty Thursday, June 29, 2017, bers for jackpots in Colo- ed guilty to charges of
to a felony charge of ongoing criminal conduct charge at the Polk County Courthouse in Des rado in 2005, Wisconsin in conspiracy to commit theft
Moines, Iowa. For the first time in an Iowa courtroom, Eddie Tipton admitted to playing a central December of 2007, Kansas by deception.
role in the rigging scheme after more than two years of adamant denials in the face of mounting in December of 2010 and “My brother did provide
evidence against him. Oklahoma in 2011. me with numbers to play in
(Rodney White/The Des Moines Register via AP) The group, which included Colorado and Oklahoma
By DAVID PITT dollars. role in the scheme for the Tipton’s brother Tommy lotteries and he told me
Associated Press Eddie Tipton, who worked first time. “I wrote software Tipton and a friend, Tex- that it was illegal for him to
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A for the Multi-State Lottery that included code that as businessman Robert play the lotteries but gave
man who helped write the Association from 2003 until allowed me to understand Rhodes, also attempted to me the numbers to play,”
computer code behind 2015 and was its computer or technically predict win- collect a $16.5 million Hot Tommy Tipton said.
several U.S. lotteries, in- information security direc- ning numbers, and I gave Lotto ticket in December Tipton, a 53-year-old for-
cluding some of its biggest, tor for his last two years those numbers to other in- 2010 in Iowa, but Iowa lot- mer Texas magistrate
pleaded guilty Thursday to there, appeared in a Des dividuals who then won the tery officials refused to pay judge and a law enforce-
masterminding a scheme Moines courtroom, where lottery and shared the win- it because the men tried to ment officer, said he’s now
through which he rigged he pleaded guilty to one nings with me,” Tipton said cash it anonymously. Iowa unemployed and must sell
the winning numbers for count of ongoing crimi- when asked by Judge Brad rules require the buyer and part of his farm to pay the
jackpots in several states nal conduct and publicly McCall to explain what he owner of the ticket to be $800,000 in restitution that
and collected millions of acknowledged his lead did. made public. the judge ordered. q

Top Philadelphia prosecutor pleads guilty, quits, is jailed

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE exchange for legal favors. and had concluded Wil- prosecutor and became Williams did not run for re-
Associated Press “I’m very sorry,” Williams liams “sold” his office. the city’s inspector gener- election in May. Civil rights
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The told the court, choking up Williams, 50, faces up to al, tasked with rooting out attorney Larry Krasner won
city’s top prosecutor plead- as he acknowledged he five years in prison under a corruption, before first win- the Democratic nomina-
ed guilty Thursday to a cor- would resign. plea deal struck during the ning office in 2009. tion and, in this overwhelm-
ruption charge, resigned U.S. District Judge Paul middle of the night after a The two-term Democrat ingly Democratic city, is the
from office and was sent Diamond said he was not series of phone calls. had named his chief of heavy favorite in the fall
immediately to jail by a inclined to trust Williams’ “He’s been humbled by the staff, Kathleen Martin, as election against Republi-
judge who said he couldn’t assurances about appear- experience and he’s very acting district attorney af- can Beth Grossman.
be trusted. ing for sentencing set for sorry for his conduct,” said ter his indictment in March The plea came after a trial
In a surprise development Oct. 24, so he ordered him defense attorney Thomas forced him to surrender his featuring damaging tes-
two weeks into his federal jailed. He was led out of the Burke.Williams, a gradu- law license. She said Thurs- timony about a stream of
trial, District Attorney Seth courtroom in handcuffs. ate of Georgetown Law day that “Philadelphians money and gifts showered
Williams pleaded guilty to a Diamond said he was “ap- School, was the city’s first should know that their Dis- on him, from a lavish Ca-
single count of accepting a palled” by the evidence he black district attorney. He trict Attorney’s Office con- ribbean vacation to cash
bribe from a businessman in heard during the jury trial, spent years as an assistant tinues the pursuit of justice.” bribes.q