Eddie Tipton jotted down the numbers 12-15-18-29-38-41 on a yellow sticky note as he sat at his desk in Urbandale, Iowa, more than a decade ago. Around him were more sticky notes filled with number sets that he carefully wrote down as they spun up on his computer screen. The numbers were generated by a cryptic 2-line software code Tipton had planted in his employer’s computer system at the Multi-State Lottery Association. The office building was virtually empty as Tipton ran test after test, zeroing in on the possible winning numbers for an upcoming $4.8 million lottery jackpot drawing in Colorado. His code would let him narrow the drawing’s winning odds from 5 million to 1 to 200 to 1. Over time, it would allow him to hijack at least five winning drawings totaling more than $24 million in Colorado, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma — the biggest lottery scam in U.S. history. The largest jackpot — a $16.5 million Hot Lotto prize in Iowa in 2010 — was never paid, and ultimately it would be the one that would do Tipton in. It was on Dec. 23, 2010 that Tipton was captured on video purchasing a ticket at a Des Moines convenience store about 10 miles from the Multi-State Lottery Association offices. Though he knew the Iowa Lottery had retained a video of the purchase, Tipton told one of his best friends, Robert Rhodes, that he could claim the ticket if he wanted. However, he warned Rhodes not to wait until the last minute to claim the ticket. That advice was ignored, and less than two hours before the 4 p.m. deadline on Dec. 29, 2011, Rhodes claimed the ticket. The 11th-hour scheme to claim the ticket captivated the public's attention. The $16.5 million jackpot was the third-largest prize in Hot Lotto's history. Iowa law requires that Iottery winners' names and addresses be made public, and the mystery over who was behind the claim dominated newscasts for weeks. Despite the intense scrutiny, it would take investigators roughly three years to connect Tipton to the Hot Lotto rigging. On Jan. 15, 2015, he was charged with two counts of felony fraud. Rhodes pleaded guilty to a felony charge of being party to a computer crime and was sentenced to six months of home confinement and ordered to pay $409,000 in restitution. He agreed to testify against Tipton as part of his plea deal. Tipton pleaded guilty to felony crimes related to the rigging scheme and was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $2.2 million in restitution.
How a Gaming Geek Pulled Off the Biggest Lottery Scam in U.S. History
Eddie Tipton jotted down the numbers 12-15-18-29-38-41 on a yellow sticky note as he sat at his desk in Urbandale, Iowa, more than a decade ago. Around him were more sticky notes filled with number sets that he carefully wrote down as they spun up on his computer screen. The numbers were generated by a cryptic 2-line software code Tipton had planted in his employer’s computer system at the Multi-State Lottery Association. The office building was virtually empty as Tipton ran test after test, zeroing in on the possible winning numbers for an upcoming $4.8 million lottery jackpot drawing in Colorado. His code would let him narrow the drawing’s winning odds from 5 million to 1 to 200 to 1. Over time, it would allow him to hijack at least five winning drawings totaling more than $24 million in Colorado, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma — the biggest lottery scam in U.S. history. The largest jackpot — a $16.5 million Hot Lotto prize in Iowa in 2010 — was never paid, and ultimately it would be the one that would do Tipton in. It was on Dec. 23, 2010 that Tipton was captured on video purchasing a ticket at a Des Moines convenience store about 10 miles from the Multi-State Lottery Association offices. Though he knew the Iowa Lottery had retained a video of the purchase, Tipton told one of his best friends, Robert Rhodes, that he could claim the ticket if he wanted. However, he warned Rhodes not to wait until the last minute to claim the ticket. That advice was ignored, and less than two hours before the 4 p.m. deadline on Dec. 29, 2011, Rhodes claimed the ticket. The 11th-hour scheme to claim the ticket captivated the public's attention. The $16.5 million jackpot was the third-largest prize in Hot Lotto's history. Iowa law requires that Iottery winners' names and addresses be made public, and the mystery over who was behind the claim dominated newscasts for weeks. Despite the intense scrutiny, it would take investigators roughly three years to connect Tipton to the Hot Lotto rigging. On Jan. 15, 2015, he was charged with two counts of felony fraud. Rhodes pleaded guilty to a felony charge of being party to a computer crime and was sentenced to six months of home confinement and ordered to pay $409,000 in restitution. He agreed to testify against Tipton as part of his plea deal. Tipton pleaded guilty to felony crimes related to the rigging scheme and was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $2.2 million in restitution.