Online Casino Founder Pleads Guilty

BetOnSports founder and operator Gary Kaplan pleaded guilty in a US court last Friday and agreed to give up more than $43 million in earnings.

Authorities said Kaplan, 50, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Missouri to violations of the Federal Wire Act and to conspiracy to violate the racketeering statute, news agencies reported.

"Today's guilty plea should have a lasting effect because Kaplan was not only the founder of BetOnSports, he was also one of the pioneers of illegal online gambling," said FBI special agent John Gillies.

According to a statement released by Acting United States Attorney Michael Reap, Kaplan admitted in court that since the mid to late 1990s he had set up businesses entities offshore in Aruba, Antigua and Costa Rica to provide sportsbook services to Americans through Websites and toll-free numbers.

BetOnSports had almost a million clients who bet more than a billion dollars, according to law enforcement officials.
Under the plea agreement, Kaplan will be jailed for between 41 and 51 months when sentenced on October 2007. He has been in federal custody since his arrest in March 2007.