DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The long-time best friend of former lottery computer technician Eddie Tipton is poised to testify at trials in Iowa and Wisconsin about how Tipton created computer code that enabled him to predict winning numbers.
Robert Rhodes, a Texas businessman who has known Tipton for decades, has reached a plea agreement to testify.
He says Tipton tapped him and others to play a series of numbers on certain dates. Prosecutors say the scheme won the group $2 million from seven lottery games in five states from 2005 to 2011.
Tipton’s attorney denies Tipton did anything illegal.
Rhodes also says he lost about $125,000 of his Wisconsin winnings after a financial adviser told him to buy a business insurance policy from a West Indies company.