The Hot Lotto fraud scandal was a lottery-rigging scandal in the United States. It came to light in 2017, after Eddie Raymond Tipton, the former information security director of the

Multi-State Lottery Association The Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) is an American non-profit, government-benefit association owned and operated by agreement of its 34 member lotteries. MUSL was created to facilitate the operation of multi-jurisdictional lottery games, ...

(MUSL), confessed to rigging a

random number generator Random number generation is a process by which, often by means of a random number generator (RNG), a sequence of numbers or symbols that cannot be reasonably predicted better than by random chance is generated. This means that the particular outc ...

that he and two others used in multiple cases of

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...

against

state lotteries In the United States, Lottery, lotteries are run by 48 jurisdictions: 45 U.S. state, states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lotteries are subject to the laws of and operated independently by each jurisdicti ...

. Tipton was first convicted in October 2015 of rigging a $14.3 million drawing of MUSL's

lottery A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...

game

Hot Lotto Hot Lotto was a multi-state lottery game administered by the Iowa-based Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which is best known for operating the Mega Millions and Powerball games. Hot Lotto began sales on April 7, 2002; its first drawing ...

. Eddie Tipton ultimately confessed to rigging lottery drawings in Iowa, Colorado, Wisconsin, Kansas and Oklahoma. Also involved in the scheme were his brother and former Texas

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the s ...

Tommy Tipton and Texas businessman Robert Rhodes. Eddie Tipton was sentenced to 25 years in prison. A $14.3 million prize for the Hot Lotto draw on December 29, 2010, had been left unclaimed for nearly a year, when attempts were made to claim the prize on behalf of an anonymous, off-shore

trust company A trust company is a corporation that acts as a fiduciary, trustee or agent of trusts and agencies. A professional trust company may be independently owned or owned by, for example, a bank or a law firm, and which specializes in being a trust ...

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wa ...

. The claim was rejected by the

Iowa Lottery The Iowa Lottery Authority is run by the state of Iowa. It is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which administers games on behalf of the member lotteries. The Iowa Lottery portfolio includes Powerball, Mega Millions, Lotto Ame ...

because it was made anonymously. A subsequent investigation into the trust and the discovery of surveillance footage from a convenience store that depicted the ticket being purchased, led to the arrest of Eddie Tipton on two counts of fraud for attempting to illegally participate in a lottery game as an employee of the MUSL, and then trying to claim a prize through fraudulent means. When his trial began on April 13, 2015, evidence was introduced by the prosecutors to support allegations that Tipton had rigged the draw in question by using his privileged access to an MUSL facility to install a

rootkit A rootkit is a collection of computer software, typically malicious, designed to enable access to a computer or an area of its software that is not otherwise allowed (for example, to an unauthorized user) and often masks its existence or the exis ...

on the computer containing Hot Lotto's

, and then attempting to claim a winning ticket with the rigged numbers anonymously. On July 20, 2015, Tipton was found guilty on both counts; he was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, pending an appeal. Eddie Tipton and his brother Tommy Boyd Tipton were subsequently accused of rigging other lottery drawings, dating back as far as 2005. Based on forensic examination of the random number generator that had been used in a 2007 Wisconsin lottery incident, investigators discovered that Eddie Tipton programmed a lottery random number generator to produce special results if the lottery numbers were drawn on certain days of the year. The Iowa Lottery and MUSL were also sued by a winner of a Hot Lotto drawing that occurred following the rigged draw, seeking to have his winnings retroactively increased because the jackpot had been illegitimately reset by Tipton's rigged win. Hot Lotto held its final drawing on October 28, 2017; the game was replaced by

Lotto America Lotto America is an American multi-state lottery game that began in 2017. It is operated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). It takes its name from the original Lotto America, offered from 1988 to 1992. Lotto America was re-launched by ...

in November 2017.

Investigation

The December 29, 2010, drawing of the multi-state lottery game

featured an advertised top prize of US$16.5 million. On November 9, 2011, Philip Johnston, a resident of

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, phoned the

to claim a ticket that had won the jackpot; stating he was too sick to claim the prize in person, he provided a 15-digit code that verified the winning ticket. However, Johnson's prize claim was turned down when he was unable to answer questions that verified he was the owner of the ticket. On December 6, Johnston phoned again, stating the ticket was actually owned by an anonymous individual who was being represented by a

-based

shell company A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or s ...

, Hexham Investments Trust. However, Iowa Lottery rules forbid anonymous prize claims, so the claim was turned down. On December 29, 2011, less than two hours before the expiration of a one-year deadline for prize claims, representatives of a

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines ...

law firm presented the winning ticket at the Iowa Lottery headquarters, signed on behalf of Hexham Investments and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

-based attorney Crawford Shaw. However, Hexham was misspelled on the ticket as "Hexam", and the claim was, once again, turned down. On January 12, 2012, Shaw met with Iowa Lottery officials in person to try claiming the prize, but was turned down yet again after he refused to identify the owners of the trust. Shaw withdrew his claims over the prize afterward, and the prize money was returned to Hot Lotto's member lotteries in February 2011. In an interview with Iowa's Division of Criminal Investigation, Johnston (who was listed as Hexham's president) explained that Robert Rhodes and Robert Sonfield of

Sugar Land Sugar Land is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a populous suburban municipality centered around ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, with whom Johnston had professional relations, had asked him to assist in anonymously claiming the prize. ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'' reported that Rhodes and Sonfield were, according to an anonymous source, in active

litigation - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil act ...

over a

pump and dump Pump and dump (P&D) is a form of securities fraud that involves artificially inflating the price of an owned stock through false and misleading positive statements, in order to sell the cheaply purchased stock at a higher price. Once the operat ...

scam A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers hav ...

, and that Rhodes, Sonfield, and Johnston had also had past business relationships. In October 2014, investigators released surveillance footage from a Des Moines

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ti ...

which they believed showed the purchaser of the ticket. He was later identified as Eddie Raymond Tipton, the director of

information security Information security, sometimes shortened to InfoSec, is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of Risk management information systems, information risk management. It typically involves preventing or re ...

at the

(MUSL), which organizes the Hot Lotto game. As an MUSL employee, it was illegal for Tipton to participate in any lottery game. On January 15, 2015, he was arrested and charged with two counts of

for attempting to illegally participate in the lottery, and attempting to use fraudulent means to claim prizes. Rhodes, a previous co-worker of Tipton's, was in Des Moines when Tipton purchased the ticket, and the two were in frequent contact by phone. Rhodes was arrested on two counts of fraud in March 2015.

Trial

Tipton's trial began on April 13, 2015. Alongside the suspicious manner that Tipton had allegedly attempted to claim the ticket,

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

s suggested that he had rigged the Hot Lotto draw on December 29, 2010, so that the "drawn" numbers would match the ticket. Hot Lotto draws are conducted using a

running on a computer in MUSL's Des Moines facility. The computer is in a "locked glass-walled room accessible only by two people at a time and then only on camera", and is not connected to the Internet or any other networks. Tipton was let into the room on November 20, 2010, to manually adjust the time on the draw computer to reflect

daylight saving time Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typicall ...

; it was alleged that while Tipton was in the room, he used a

USB flash drive Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply ( interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A bro ...

to install self-destructing

malware Malware (a portmanteau for ''malicious software'') is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to information or systems, depr ...

on the random number generator computer, presumably to rig a draw. Tipton's co-workers described him as having been "obsessed" with

s at the time. It was also noted that on that day, security cameras were configured to record only for "roughly one second per minute", a change the prosecutors believed was made to prevent anything suspicious from being recorded. In an April 13, 2015, statement, Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich explained that MUSL had implemented stronger security measures to protect the integrity of its draws, including new equipment and software to conduct the drawing, updated security protocols for the draw room, new security cameras, and further

separation of duties Separation of duties (SoD), also known as segregation of duties is the concept of having more than one person required to complete a task. It is an administrative control used by organisations to prevent fraud, sabotage, theft, misuse of informati ...

. Tipton's

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

attorney, Nicholas Sarcone, unsuccessfully attempted to block presentation of the hacking theory in court, arguing that Tipton was with multiple people in the draw room, as per protocol, and use of the convenience store surveillance footage, claiming that the person in the video could not have been Tipton because he did not have a beard at the time. The trial was recessed to July 2015 to give the defense time to analyze the new evidence. In a brief issued on July 9, 2015, Sarcone wrote that following an examination, there was no evidence that Tipton had tampered with the draw computer, and that according to lottery officials, the cameras in the draw room had a long-term history of technical problems that could have resulted in the incomplete surveillance recording of Tipton's actions. In an interview with ''The Daily Beast'', Tipton denied he was the person who purchased the ticket, and argued that he had been singled out because he was an employee of MUSL. He also noted that, aside from Rhodes, he had not been in active contact with or knew Sonfield, or any other individual alleged to have been involved in the fraud. In his closing arguments, Assistant Attorney General

Rob Sand Robert Sand (born August 12, 1982) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 33rd Iowa State Auditor since 2019. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Sand was assistant attorney general of Iowa from 2010 to 2017. In 2018, he ...

singled out two pieces of evidence as proof beyond a

reasonable doubt Beyond a reasonable doubt is a legal standard of proof required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems. It is a higher standard of proof than the balance of probabilities standard commonly used in civil cases, bec ...

of Tipton's guilt: firstly, co-workers and friends testified that the voice of the man on the surveillance recording matched Tipton's, and secondly, MUSL IT director Jason Maher testified that Tipton had access to a rootkit.

First conviction

On July 20, 2015, Tipton was found guilty on two counts of fraud. On September 9, he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment but remained free on bond pending an

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

. Tipton's attorney argued that his client's conviction was based on "speculative" evidence.

Subsequent allegations

Lottery investigators uncovered three other instances where they allege Tipton rigged lottery outcomes. * On November 23, 2005, Tipton's brother Tommy won a $568,990 jackpot prize share in a

Colorado Lottery The Colorado Lottery is run by the state government of Colorado. It is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association(MUSL). The Colorado Lottery began on January 24, 1983, initially selling only scratch tickets. Its first drawing took place on ...

drawing. Eddie Tipton was among those who constructed

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

's random number generator. A friend of Tommy Tipton claims that Tommy asked him to claim the ticket in return for ten percent of the winnings. * A December 29, 2007, prize of $783,257 in a Wisconsin Lottery drawing was paid to a

limited liability corporation A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability o ...

controlled by Robert Rhodes, who had also been charged in the 2010 Hot Lotto case. Records show that the corporation subsequently transferred money to Tipton. * A November 23, 2011, Hot Lotto jackpot of $1.2 million was paid to Kyle Conn, an owner of a construction company in Texas. Conn bought the ticket from the Oklahoma Lottery.

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

investigators were suspicious because Conn was not a frequent player, came from out of state, and specified the winning numbers manually instead of relying on a random pick. They initially declined to say what linked this case to Tipton. Eddie Tipton faced criminal charges, filed October 9, 2015, related to the 2005 and 2007 allegations. Tommy Tipton was charged on March 30, 2016.

Confession and second conviction

Forensic investigation of the random number generator used to pick the lottery numbers in the 2007 Megabucks drawing showed that it had been programmed to produce knowable outcomes if the drawing occurred on three dates of the year May 27, November 23 and December 29 provided these dates were Wednesdays or Saturdays and the drawing was after 8 p.m. In January 2017, Rhodes pled guilty in Iowa to charges related aiding Eddie Tipton in the 2010 Hot Lotto incident. In March 2017, he pled guilty to the 2007 Megabucks incident. As part of the

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or ''nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendant ...

, Rhodes agreed to testify against Eddie and Tommy Tipton. He was sentenced to six months of

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if al ...

and ordered to pay $409,000 in restitution. In June 2017, Eddie Tipton confessed in court to having installed the rigged random number generator in 2005 or 2006. "I wrote software that included code that allowed me to technically predict winning numbers and I gave those numbers to other individuals who then won the lottery and shared those winnings with me," he said. He admitted to fixing lotteries in Colorado, Oklahoma,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

as well as Iowa. Tipton was sentenced to 25 years in prison, but his attorneys claim he could be paroled in three or four years. Eddie and Tommy will also pay about $3 million in restitution. Tommy Tipton served 75 days in jail in Texas, after pleading guilty in June 2017 to conspiracy to commit theft by deception. Tipton was released on parole in July 2022. On January 20, 2022, Tipton had been approved for parole, but prior to release parole had been revoked for getting into a fight.

Restitution avoided

As of 2019, Eddie and Tommy had largely avoided paying the over $2.3 million in restitution they owed to Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas and Wisconsin. Their payments to the four states totaled about $1,225. During the interim Eddie and Tommy Tipton had transferred ownership of several properties to their mother, Lawanda Tipton.

Counter-suit to overturn sentence

Tipton sued the state of Iowa in January 2020, claiming he was pressured four years ago to plead guilty to crimes he did not commit. The lawsuit sought to overturn his sentence. Assistant Attorney General William Hill asked a judge on November 4, 2021, to dismiss this lawsuit.

Suit by later jackpot winner

On February 4, 2016, the Iowa Lottery and the MUSL were sued by Larry Dawson, who won a $6 million Hot Lotto jackpot several months after the rigged draw. Dawson claimed that because the MUSL had officially recognized an illegitimate draw as having a winning ticket, the following drawing's jackpot should not have been reset to $1 million and would have theoretically reached $16 million by the time of his winning draw. As such, Dawson claimed that, given the parties' failure in properly auditing their games, he was entitled to $10 million that was not officially awarded in the rigged draw. Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich criticized Dawson's lawsuit for its attempt to "rewrite history", stating that, "No one can know what would have occurred in this case had any event in it been changed. We believe that Mr. Dawson rightfully was paid the jackpot to which he was entitled." Dawson later received a $1.5 million settlement from MUSL. The jackpot from the rigged 2010 draw was ultimately not claimed and distributed among the sixteen states participating in the lottery.

In popular culture

On January 28, 2018, GSN aired a documentary about the Hot Lotto fraud scandal called ''Cover Story: The Notorious Lottery Heist''. In September 2018 an episode of ''

American Greed ''American Greed'' (also known as ''American Greed: Scams, Scoundrels and Scandals'' and as ''American Greed: Scams, Schemes and Broken Dreams'') is an American documentary television series on CNBC. The series focuses on cases of Ponzi schemes, ...

'' documented the incident. In March 2021 episode #160 of the podcast ''

Criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in C ...

'' covered the incident.

References

{{reflist, 30em, refs= {{cite news , title=Hot Lotto rigger sentenced to 10 years , url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2015/09/09/convicted-hot-lotto-rigger-sentenced-10-years/71924916/ , newspaper=The Des Moines Register , first=Grant , last=Rodgers , date=September 9, 2015 , accessdate=September 26, 2015 {{cite news , url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2015/10/09/convicted-hot-lotto-rigger-facing-new-felony-charge/73645772/ , title=Hot Lotto scammer accused of rigging other lotteries , first=Grant , last=Rodgers , date=October 9, 2015 , newspaper=Des Moines Register , accessdate=November 21, 2015 {{cite news , url= http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2015/11/19/investigators-uncover-another-tainted-hot-lotto-jackpot/76068662/ , title=Investigators uncover another tainted Hot Lotto jackpot , first=Grant , last=Rogers , date=November 19, 2015 , newspaper=Des Moines Register , accessdate=November 21, 2015 {{cite news , last=Rodgers , first=Grant , title=Here's how brothers rigged lotteries, authorities say , newspaper=Des Moines Register , date=April 6, 2016 , url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2016/04/06/lottery-scammers-brother-facing-criminal-charges/82690668/ , accessdate=July 2, 2016 {{cite court , litigants=Iowa v. Tommy Boyd Tipton , court=Iowa Dist. Polk County , date=March 30, 2016 , url=http://cdn.radioiowa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Tommy-Tipton-PDF.pdf , accessdate=August 25, 2021 {{cite web , last=Vaas , first=Lisa , date=April 8, 2016 , title=Forensics Reveal How Brothers Rigged Lottery , url=https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2016/04/08/forensics-uncover-how-brothers-rigged-the-lottery/ , work=Naked Security , publisher=Sophos.com , accessdate=July 2, 2016 {{cite news , last=Rodgers , first=Grant , date=February 3, 2016 , title=Lawsuit: Hot Lotto fraud reduced payout, url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2016/02/03/lawsuit-announced-hot-lotto-case/79771582/, accessdate=February 4, 2016, newspaper=Des Moines Register, publisher=Gannett Company {{cite press release , title=Changes Continue To Line-Up of Iowa Lotto Games With Upcoming End of Hot Lotto: Final Drawing In Hot Lotto Game Will Be Oct. 28 , date=August 3, 2017 , publisher=Iowa Lottery , url=http://www.ialottery.com/Pages/Pressroom2017/N08-03-17.aspx , accessdate=October 15, 2017 {{cite news , last=Rodgers , first=Grant , date=July 20, 2015 , title=Security chief guilty in Hot Lotto scam trial, url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2015/07/20/hot-lotto-verdict/30411901/, accessdate=July 20, 2015, newspaper=Des Moines Register, publisher=Gannett Company {{cite news , last1=Rodgers , first1=Grant , last2=Finney , first2=Daniel P. , title=Investigators need help finding lottery ticket purchaser, url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2014/10/09/investigators-iowa-lottery-ticket-video-investigation/16982635/, accessdate=April 16, 2015, newspaper=Des Moines Register, date=October 9, 2014 {{cite web , first=Samantha , last=Beckett , title=Iowa Lottery Worker Arrested for Holding $16.5 Million Lottery Ticket, url=http://www.casino.org/news/iowa-lottery-worker-illegal-winning-ticket, website=Casino.org, accessdate=April 17, 2015, date=January 19, 2015 {{cite news , first=Katherine , last=Klingseis , title=Lottery vendor employee charged in Hot Lotto fraud case, url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2015/01/15/lottery-vendor-employee-charged-hot-lotto-case/21828771/, accessdate=April 14, 2015, newspaper=Des Moines Register , date=January 15, 2015 {{cite web, last1=Nestel, first1=M.L., title=Inside the Biggest Lottery Scam Ever, url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/07/inside-the-biggest-lottery-scam-ever.html, accessdate=July 10, 2015, work=The Daily Beast, date=July 7, 2015 {{cite news , last=Ta , first=Linh , title=Another arrest made in Hot Lotto fraud investigation, url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2015/03/21/hot-lotto-fraud-iowa-lottery/25137817/, accessdate=April 18, 2015, newspaper=Des Moines Register, date=March 21, 2015 {{cite news , first=Katherine , last=Klingseis , title=Prosecutors: Evidence indicates lottery vendor employee tampered with equipment, url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2015/04/11/prosecutors-evidence-indicates-lottery-vendor-employee-tampered-equipment/25629733/, accessdate=April 14, 2015, newspaper=Des Moines Register , date=April 12, 2015 {{cite web , first=Dan , last=Goodin , title=Prosecutors suspect man hacked lottery computers to score winning ticket, url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/04/prosecutors-suspect-man-hacked-lottery-computers-to-score-winning-ticket/, accessdate=April 14, 2015, work=Ars Technica , date=April 13, 2015 {{cite news , last=Rodgers , first=Grant , title=Hot Lotto scandal prompts security changes, url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2015/04/13/hot-lotto-ticket-trial-delayed/25715155/, accessdate=April 18, 2015, newspaper=Des Moines Register, date=April 13, 2015 {{cite news , last=Rodgers , first=Grant , title=Trial over Hot Lotto mystery opens Monday, url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2015/07/12/trial-hot-lotto-ticket-set-monday/30062097/, accessdate=July 14, 2015, newspaper=Des Moines Register, publisher=Gannett Company, date=July 13, 2015 {{Cite news , url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2017/06/29/tipton-pleads-guilty-iowa-lottery-rigging-scandal/438039001/ , title=Tipton brothers plead guilty in Iowa lottery rigging scandal , last=Rogers , first=Grant , date=June 29, 2017 , work=Des Moines Register , access-date=August 25, 2017 {{Cite news , url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/investigations/2017/08/22/iowa-lottery-cheat-sentenced-25-years/566642001/ , title=Eddie Tipton sentenced in Iowa Lottery rigging case , last=Clayworth , first=Jason , date=August 22, 2017 , work=Des Moines Register , access-date=August 25, 2017 {{Cite news , url=https://apnews.com/1b3bd41170d0494280da0e27ffcee5c4/texas-man-pleads-guilty-fraud-lottery-scandal-case , title=Texas man pleads guilty to fraud in lottery scandal case , date=January 10, 2017 , work=AP News , access-date=August 25, 2017 {{Cite news , url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-lottery-rigging-scheme-trial-20170330-story.html , title=Best friend turns on 'good old boy' to testify against accused lottery scammer , date=March 30, 2017 , work=Chicago Tribune , access-date=August 25, 2021 {{Cite news , url=https://apnews.com/9e93fe27b3a94ebf8f1520b13ea4ad2a , title=Judge: Winner's lawsuit in lottery-fixing case can continue , date=October 13, 2016 , work=AP News {{cite web, title=GSN Airs Lottery Scandal Documentary COVER STORY: The Notorious Lottery Heist 1/28, url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/GSN-Airs-Lottery-Scandal-Documentary-COVER-STORY-The-Notorious-Lottery-Heist-128-20180123, website=Broadway World, accessdate=January 29, 2018, language=en {{Cite episode , date=September 11, 2018 , title=Just a Dollar and a Scheme/ Lousy Landlord , url=https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/09/11/just-a-dollar-and-a-scheme-lousy-landlord.html , series=American Greed , series-link=American Greed , access-date=March 24, 2021 , network=CNBC {{Cite podcast , issue=Episode 160 , title=Hot Lotto , date=March 3, 2021 , url=https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-160-hot-lotto-3-12-2021/ , work=

, access-date=March 24, 2021 {{Cite news , last=Clayworth , first=Jason , date=December 9, 2019 , title=$1.5 million settlement ends legal action against Iowa lottery , url=https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/investigations/2019/12/09/lottery-scam-settlement-eddie-tipton/2630074001/ , access-date=July 23, 2021 , newspaper=Des Moines Register , language=en-US {{Cite news , last=Clayworth , date=April 29, 2019 , first=Jason , title=Convicted lottery cheats deed property to mother, avoid most court-ordered repayment , url=https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/investigations/2019/04/29/lottery-cheats-deed-property-tommy-tipton-eddie-tipton-iowa-oklahoma-wisconsin-colorado-kansas/3548528002/ , access-date=July 31, 2022 , work=The Des Moines Register , language=en-US {{Cite news , last=Pitt , first=David , url=https://apnews.com/article/iowa-des-moines-lawsuits-crime-1ddfbedc4ddd3a221310dffbefc2b553 , title=Imprisoned lottery computer tech seeks to overturn sentence , agency=Associated Press , date=November 11, 2021 , access-date=July 30, 2022 {{Cite news , url=https://www.newsweek.com/eddie-tipton-lottery-scammer-fixing-guilty-plea-1648602 , title=Man fighting jail sentence for rigging lottery so he won 3 times a year , first=Tom , last=Fish , date=November 12, 2021 , work=Newsweek , access-date=July 30, 2022 {{Cite news , last=Morris , first=William , date=July 18, 2022 , title=Lottery scammer paroled after five years in prison for $24 million game-rigging scheme , url=https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2022/07/18/hot-lotto-lottery-scammer-eddie-tipton-paroled-iowa-prison/10087967002/ , access-date=July 31, 2022 , work=The Des Moines Register , language=en-US {{Cite news , last=Joens , first=Philip , date=April 12, 2022 , title=Convicted lottery rigger Eddie Tipton loses parole after fight in prison , url=https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2022/04/12/eddie-tipton-iowa-lottery-fraudster-parole-revoked-fight-clarinda-correctional-facility/7290560001/ , access-date=July 31, 2022 , work=The Des Moines Register , language=en-US Lotteries in the United States Fraud in the United States Crimes in Iowa 2010 crimes in the United States Lottery fraud