Carruthers, who was arrested by FBI agents in 2006 at Dallas Airport while en route to his company's headquarters in Costa Rica, has spent the last three years under house arrest in Missouri.
According to charges levied at the British gaming executive, BetOnSports took in about $3.5 billion in wagers from primarily US players through internet and phone wagers which amounted to Carruthers being slapped with the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charge, as well as other charges collectively the evasion of Federal wagering excise taxes.
Before his arrest, Carruthers led BetOnSports to an AIM listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2004. He is also an online gambling regulation advocate.
He reached a plea deal in April last year but withdrew it in September before his sentencing. He then entered a guilty plea after a new agreement with the court was reached in October.
According to US Attorney Steven Holtshouser:
"The prosecution and conviction of Carruthers is significant to the Government's efforts at enforcement of U.S. laws against offshore internet and telephone sports wagering businesses, because Carruthers was both a foreign national and a top executive of BetOnSports. Previously, executives, owners and investors believed that they were immune from the reach of US law enforcement. Both the conviction of, and sentence handed down against Mr Carruthers should send a message to any foreign business conducting illegal activities in the United States, that geography does not render it untouchable."
Last November, BetOnSport founder Gary Kaplan was sentenced to 51 months in prison for similar charges.
Posted 11 Jan 2010. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
