BetOnSports boss Kaplan gets full sentence, $43m fine
US judges have ignored an appeal for clemency from Gary Kaplan's lawyers, jailing the BetOnSports founder for more than four years and ordered him to hand over more than $43m (£26m) in illegal earnings.
BETONSPORTS FOUNDER GARY Kaplan has been jailed for more than four years and been ordered to hand over more than $43m (£26m) in illegal earnings.
The sentence follows Kaplan having admitted conspiring to violate the federal racketeering and other US laws at the US District Court in St. Louis in August. The jail term is the maximum 51 months expected under the plea deal
Kaplan admitted that beginning in the mid to late-1990s, he set up business entities offshore in Aruba, Antigua and Costa Rica to provide betting to US residents through websites and toll-free telephone numbers.
The plea was widely expected after Kaplan was left as the only executive of the sportsbook facing trial after his brother, Neil Kaplan, and sister Lori Kaplan Multz pleaded guilty to racketeering, conspiracy and the illegal transmission of bets in June, in what was expected to have been a prelude to a deal with Kaplan himself, with former colleague Penelope Tucker pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting wire wager act violations along with the pair.
At the hearing, Kaplan’s lawyers asked for leniency, arguing that their client wanted to set up charitable projects, but US District Judge Carol Jackson in St Louis, Missouri, said Kaplan “continued to disrespect” the law and broke laws he didn’t agree with.
Jackson said: “Mr Kaplan made an educated decision, a gamble if you will. Now, here’s the payoff.”
BetOnSports was founded in 1995, and by the time of its float on London’s Alternative Index Market (AIM) in 2004 had nearly one million registered customers. The company ceased operations in 2006 following the arrest of its chief executive David Carruthers and the suspension of trading in the US.
Kaplan has been in custody without a bond set since his arrest in the Dominican Republic in March 2007.
As well as the prison sentence and forfeiture, Kaplan will also not be allowed to launch or run a business without the permission of the probation office.
Don’t miss out on egaming news: get our free Snapshot email.