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Iowa early News Headlines: Friday, Dec. 23rd 2016

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December 23rd, 2016 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A former lottery computer administrator from Iowa and a friend from Texas have been charged in Wisconsin with racketeering and theft by fraud for allegedly fixing a 2007 state Megabucks game. Eddie Tipton of Iowa and Robert Rhodes of Texas were charged by the state’s attorney general in documents filed Thursday.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge who was accused of insurance fraud and fired after helping expose improper influence in Gov. Terry Branstad’s administration is facing a felony charge two years later. Susan Ackerman, former administrative law judge for Iowa Workforce Development, is charged with making false certifications so that her daughter could receive state health insurance. Her supporters say her firing and prosecution are retribution for blowing the whistle in 2014 on improper pressure facing judges.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police say an Iowa woman has been charged with murder in connection with the 2012 disappearance of a woman last seen alive in Omaha. Police say officers Thursday arrested 41-year-old Shanna Goylar at her home in Persia, Iowa, a city of 300 people about 35 miles northeast of Omaha. Goylar was charged with 1st degree murder in the death of Cari Farver, who was last seen Nov. 13, 2012, in Omaha. Goylar was taken to the Pottawattamie County jail awaiting extradition to Omaha.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge has ordered a naturalized U.S. citizen from China who pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to steal seed corn must pay the U.S. companies that made the seed $425,000. Mo Hailong entered a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in January. In it, he admitted to the plan that would send stolen Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer seed corn to China, where scientists planned to reproduce its genetic traits. Monday’s judgment also said he must forfeit two farms.