BETonSPORTS Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Charges

Here’s a new update in the U.S. government’s war on Internet gambling. BETonSPORTS has pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in a St. Louis federal court and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in their case against the company’s founder, Gary Kaplan, CEO David Carruthers, and a number of other co-defendants.

According to U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway, “This plea, combined with the terms of the civil injunction should put an end to the BETonSPORTS illegal gambling empire.”

Thank God. I’ll certainly rest a little easier at night knowing that this “empire” has been brought to their knees. I’m just glad they got to them before they finished construction on the Death Star.

The corporate officers made the decision to sacrifice Kaplan and Carruthers in order to save their own skin and avoid charges of racketeering, conspiracy and fraud. Ironically, these individuals were recruited by Carruthers. Looks like the old saying about “no honor among thieves” is proving to be true.

The 24-page plea agreement is between BETonSPORTS and the Eastern District of Missouri. According to the document, the agreement protects the directors of the company from prosecution by this district, but it does not allow the company itself or the directors to escape further indictments from other federal districts or individual state prosecutors.

In other words, BETonSPORTS is the online equivalent of the Titanic, and the U.S. government is a giant Republican iceberg. Given that comparison, I think we can all guess at how the story is going to end.

For more articles on current legal battles involving online gambling, you may want to read the following:

Gary Kaplan is Arrested

Legal Updates from the World of Gambling

BETonSPORTS Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Charges