Lottery insider’s brother arrested in jackpot-fixing scandal

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Investigators say they’ve uncovered how a lottery employee allegedly rigged jackpots and have charged his brother in connection with prizes in Oklahoma and Colorado.

Tommy Tipton, a former justice of the peace in Texas, surrendered to Iowa authorities on Wednesday. He’s the brother of Eddie Tipton, who was convicted of fixing a $16.5 million jackpot and faces charges related to other jackpots.

Prosecutors allege Eddie Tipton used his job with the Multi-State Lottery Association to tamper with random number generators used by lotteries.

Authorities said Wednesday they’ve recovered the generator used for a $2 million jackpot claimed by Eddie Tipton’s friend. An examination found that code allowed numbers to be picked by a different program three days of the year.

All six jackpots linked to Tipton were drawn on either Nov. 23 or Dec. 29.