An alleged lottery rigger will plead guilty later this month under an agreement with prosecutors in Iowa and Wisconsin where he was accused of being involved in a multistate, six-year scheme with his brother.
Eddie Tipton, the former information security director for the Multi-State Lottery Association, is expected to plead guilty to three felony charges, including one count of ongoing criminal conduct, in Iowa and Wisconsin as the main player in a scheme that affected the lottery in several other states, the Des Moines Register reported.
KCCI-TV reported that Tipton's plea will come June 29, allowing him to serve sentences in Iowa and Wisconsin concurrently. A sentencing date has not been set. He faces up to 25 years in prison.
Tipton will admit as part of the plea deal that he, his brother Tommy Tipton, and a friend named Robert Rhodes conspired to collect lottery winnings in Iowa, Wisconsin, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, according to KCCI-TV.
Iowa Lottery officials put a halt to the alleged scheme after refusing to cash in a $14 million jackpot for Eddie Tipton in 2010, noted the television station. The Tipton brothers will also have to reveal how they rigged the system to win cash as part of the agreement.
According to WHO-TV, authorities charged Eddie Tipton with tampering with the computers that are designed to randomly choose the winning jackpot numbers. Tipton bought a ticket with the rigged numbers and tried to claim it through several avenues, while remaining anonymous, but wasn't before the deadline expired, noted WHO-TV.
The plea agreement will also order the brothers to pay back $3 million in restitution, according to the Des Moines Register.
Eddie Tipton was originally convicted on two counts of fraud in 2015 after a trial focused on his failed attempt to cash in the Iowa lottery ticket, but that case is on appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court, wrote the Register.
As part of the new plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to wipe those convictions off his record if they are not dismissed or overturned, noted the newspaper.
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