David Carruthers Pleads Guilty 3 Years Later
Written by Renee K | Sunday, April 5th, 2009
Ever since Anurag Dikshit pleaded guilty and entered into a $300 million dollar settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), other such compromises were inevitable. Predictably the first one to crack was ex-CEO of BetOnSports, David Carruthers, because he was already under house arrest in St. Louis. Carruthers is a citizen of the United Kingdom, who was arrested in July 2006 in Texas, while transiting from the United Kingdom to Costa Rica. This arrest was made under the Wire Act of 1961. The UIGEA was not even passed at that time. After his arrest he was fired as the CEO of BetOnSports because he was no longer able to perform his duties.
According to the Associated Press, Carruthers has pleaded guilty to “federal racketeering conspiracy charges”. He could be given up to 33 months in prison. The sentencing will take place on the 2nd of October. In addition Carruthers has agreed to the following. He will not carry out offshore gambling businesses and will cooperate against in the prosecution of Gary Kaplan, the founder of BetOnSports and others who are in custody. The St. Louis Post Dispatch explained the charge against Carruthers as that despite online gambling being illegal in the United States he “continued to advertise to U.S. customers that the company was ‘legal and licensed’ while furtively or covertly collecting bets and paying out money owed to gamblers.”
Citing possible reasons for Carruthers plea of guilt, Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association Chairman, Joe Brennan said, “The U.S. Government won a war of attrition. He’s an older guy who hasn’t been home in three years. He was under house arrest with no trial. … It’s disappointing to see a guy who has been standing on his principles beaten down enough to forge a plea.” Brennan added that apparently now Carruthers wants to wind up his detention in the U.S. and return to his home in the United Kingdom as soon as the law will allow.
Faced with the situation of Carruthers’ arrest, BetOnSports quit the American market in August 2006, two months before the UIGEA was passed. Despite that Kaplan was arrested in the Dominican Republic in March 2007 and extradited to the United States. Brennan pointed out the differences in the cases of Dikshit and Carruthers. Dikishit is free to travel where he wants while Carruthers is still under house arrest. Dikshit’s sentencing will take place in December 2010 while Carruthers will be handed out the sentence in October 2009. Two other online gambling portals that are under the DoJ scanner are Sportingbet and 888. Both are reportedly engaged in settlement talks with the DoJ.
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· Written by Renee K · Filed Under Poker Gossip · Comments Off
