He rigged the lottery

Photo: The Canadian Press

Former Multi-State Lottery Association security director Eddie Tipton.

A lottery computer programmer will tell investigators how he was able to use his position to rig state jackpots for years and he and his brother will repay $3 million in prizes they improperly claimed, under a plea agreement released Monday.

Prosecutors will seek a 25-year prison sentence for former Multi-State Lottery Association security director Eddie Tipton, the mastermind of a scheme that rocked the lottery industry. His brother, former Texas judge Tommy Tipton, is expected to face 75 days in jail.

Wisconsin prosecutors released the agreement Monday after Eddie Tipton pleaded guilty to theft and computer crime charges in Madison. The plea was a surprise for Tipton, who had insisted on his innocence for 2 1/2 years and was facing a trial in Iowa next month. The agreement calls for Tipton to soon plead guilty to ongoing criminal conduct in Iowa, and to confess to a civil judgment in Kansas.

"Mr. Tipton's actions defrauding the lottery were a gross violation of the public's trust and confidence," said Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, praising investigators for "their efforts to find truth and seek justice."

In his job at the Urbandale, Iowa-based association, Tipton wrote and installed code for software that picked random numbers for games sold by its member lotteries. Investigators say Tipton designed his code so that on three days of the year, he could predict winning numbers in some games. The Tiptons and friend Robert Rhodes bought winning numbers for drawings in Colorado, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma between 2005 and 2011. Other associates were involved but haven't faced charges.

The conspiracy unraveled after Tipton was caught on surveillance video buying a winning $16.5 million ticket in December 2010 in Iowa that he, Rhodes and others unsuccessfully tried to claim.