Online Gambling Kingpin Draws Max Sentence in BetOnSports Case
Gary Kaplan, the erstwhile head of the BetOnSports online gambling empire, was given 51 months in prison by a US judge, according to the Department of Justice. The sentence was the maximum allowed for the operator of the Internet sports betting site, under terms of a shaky plea arrangement.
Kaplan had pleaded guilty in August after over two years in jail since his arrest in March 2007. The agreement with the US government specified a sentence of 41 to 51 months, as well as a forfeiture of about $44 million.
The government contests the money is Kaplan's criminal earnings from the online gambling outfit. BetOnSports was forced out of business by the US in 2006, and subsequently players at the sports betting site lost as much as $20 million they had coming.
The Justice Department says the deal leaves Kaplan still with quite a fortune, after he publicly listed BetOnSports on the London Stock Exchange.
As part of the arrangement, Kaplan agreed in court that he had broken US law by targeting US customers to place bets through his online gambling system.
