Eddie Tipton — the mastermind behind the biggest lottery scam in U.S. history — was released Friday from the Clarinda Correctional Facility, Nick Crawford, a spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Corrections, tells Axios.
State of play: Tipton hijacked multiple state lotteries in his former job as head of IT security at the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) in Urbandale.
- The case exposed how a widely used random-drawing computer software system could be manipulated.
Catch up fast: In 2005, Tipton created a cryptic computer code that allowed him to greatly narrow the odds of selecting winning numbers in lotteries across at least five states, including Iowa, court records show.
- The scheme began to unravel in December 2010 when he was captured on video purchasing the winning ticket for a $16.5 million jackpot at a Des Moines convenience store. He tried to claim the reward anonymously but was caught.
- He was sentenced to up to 25 years in prison in 2017.
The intrigue: The Iowa Board of Parole approved Tipton’s release in January because of good behavior.
- But that was revoked before his official release after he incurred an undisclosed disciplinary issue.
- Another review last month resulted in Tipton’s parole to Texas via an offender supervision program.
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