By Joe Whittington and Andrew M. Harris
Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- David Carruthers, the former Betonsports Plc executive who pleaded guilty in a U.S. government investigation that shut the online gambling company, was sentenced to 33 months by a federal judge.
U.S. District Judge Carol E. Jackson sentenced Carruthers at a hearing today in St. Louis. He previously pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy.
Carruthers was chief executive officer of the London-based Internet gambling business when he and 10 other people including founder Gary S. Kaplan were indicted by a grand jury for violating federal laws banning the placement of wagers by wire in 2006.
Bankrupt BetOnSports took in $1.25 billion in 2004, with 98 percent of that revenue coming from bets made through its Web site by U.S.-based clients, according to court papers.
Betonsports suspended trading of its shares on the London Stock Exchange on July 18, 2006, a day after the indictment was unsealed. The company filed for liquidation and, in May 2007, through its attorney also pleaded guilty to a racketeering- related charge.
Carruthers was arrested in July 2006 as he changed planes at a Dallas-area airport.
He first pleaded guilty in April and was to receive a sentence of no more than 33 months. He withdrew that plea and pleaded guilty again to the same charge in October under a revised agreement with prosecutors after Kaplan pleaded guilty to the same count.
Kaplan, who in August became the last of the individual defendants who fought the charges to admit guilt, was sentenced to 51 months in prison on Nov. 2. He also forfeited $43 million to the U.S.
On Dec. 1, Jackson fined the company $28.2 million for its infractions. The company is attempting to repay clients who are owed money, its lawyer told the judge.
“We won’t be able to pay the $28 million,” Jeffrey Demerath, the attorney, said in court that day. “We have an obligation under the laws of the United Kingdom to pay the creditors first.”
Two other defendants remain at large.
The case is U.S. v. Betonsports, 4:06-cr-00337, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri (St. Louis).
To contact the reporters on this story: Joe Whittington in St. Louis at joethewhitt@sbcglobal.net; Andrew M. Harris in Chicago at aharris16@bloomberg.net.
