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Eddie Tipton, a man who lead a lotto scam across four states, was granted parole but must pay required restitution if he wants to stay out of jail.
Tipton, 58, served five years of a 25-year prison sentence at an Iowa prison, according to The Associated Press. The Iowa Board of Parole granted Tipton release on January 20 due to good behavior, according to a board document. He will be allowed to live in Texas, the board document says.
Tipton pleaded guilty in 2017 in Iowa to ongoing criminal conduct that involved rigging computers to win lottery tickets for himself, friends, and family, the AP reported. It was part of a plea agreement where he also pleaded guilty to theft and computer criminal charges in Wisconsin, according to the Des Moines Register. He admitted to using his position as an information security director for the multi-state Lottery Association to rig computers to win, WHO-13 reported.
He told the judge he "wrote software that included code that allowed me to understand or technically predict winning numbers, and I gave those numbers to other individuals, who then won the lottery and shared the winnings with me" at his sentencing hearing in 2017, according to the Des Moines Register.
Tipton was ordered to repay $2.2 million in fraudulent winnings in lotteries from Colorado, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Oklahoma, the AP reported. He also needs to pay restitution in Texas, an obligation he shares with his brother Tommy Tipton, who got some of the winnings.
Eddie Tipton paid less than $2,000 toward the states' restitution, according to a 2019 document, the AP reported. He still appears to owe around $1.6 million to four states.
Tipton is required to pay restitution in Wisconsin by the end of his sentence, according to the AP. His four-year sentence was served at the same time as his Iowa sentence and his parole is finished in 2026. If he doesn't pay in full by that time, a judge could order him to go back to prison, according to information from Wisconsin officials given to Iowa Auditor Rob Sand, who was an assistant attorney general who prosecuted Tipton's case.
Tipton owes Wisconsin $409,137, according to a 2019 document, the AP reported. That same documents show that he owes Kansas $30,700, Colorado over $568,300, and Oklahoma $643,700. It's unknown if he could go back to prison if he doesn't pay all the restitution in those states by the end of his sentence.
Tipton was originally convicted by an Iowa jury of trying to take $16.5 million in a rigged Iowa lottery game in December 2010, according to the Des Moines Register. However, the Iowa Supreme Court said the state took too long to prosecute him. The higher court overruled the decision in 2017.
Tipton also filed documents for a lawsuit against Iowa in January 2020, saying he was persuaded to plead guilty to crimes he says he is innocent of, Newsweek reported. He says he was also charged restitution in states where Iowa lacks the authority to do so, and he cannot pay it.
Assistant Attorney General William Hill requested a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the lawsuit is prohibited by the statute of limitation and should be dismissed as frivolous, Newsweek reported. He also says the lawsuit violated the terms of his plea agreement, providing "the opportunity for all jurisdictions to re-initiate criminal charges stemming from Tipton's actions."
A trial is scheduled for Aug. 17, the AP reported.
