DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Gary Stephen Kaplan, founder of BetOnSports PLC (BSS.YY), pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges and agreed to forfeit $43.7 million to the U.S., acting U.S. Attorney Michael W. Reap said Friday.

Kaplan, who started the offshore sports-betting business in the 1990s, pleaded guilty in St. Louis to charges of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute, conspiring to violate the Wire Wager Act and violating the act.

Under the plea deal, Kaplan, 50, will be sentenced to between 41 months and 51 months in prison. Sentencing is set for Oct. 27.

Kaplan, who has been in custody since his arrest in 2007 and was scheduled to go on trial next month, admitted in court Friday that he set up businesses in Aruba, Antigua and Costa Rica to provide sportsbook services to U.S. residents through Web sites and toll-free telephone numbers. BetOnSports advertised heavily in the U.S. and attracted a large number of U.S. customers, according to prosecutors.

By 2004, BetOnSports employed about 1,700 people in Costa Rica. In the year ended Jan. 31, 2004, the company had close to 1 million registered customers and accepted more than 10 million sports bets that exceeded $1 billion in total. In mid-2004, BetOnSports went public on AIM, a market for start-ups run by the London Stock Exchange, making Kaplan more than $100 million.

John V. Gillies, special agent in charge of the FBI in St. Louis, said the bureau continues to work on catching two others involved in the case. Kaplan, 10 others and four corporations were indicted in 2006.

-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2357; Kathy.Shwiff@dowjones.com