Carruthers Changes Plea
October 8, 2009
The world of online gambling was rocked this week with the change of a plea of guilty by David Carruthers. Carruthers was charged with racketeering by a United States court and has spent the last 39 months in federal custody. He has been held in a St. Louis, Missouri hotel and was getting ready to hear his sentence ruling by the court.
Carruthers is the former CEO of BetonSports and when he pled guilty many were disappointed in the move as they felt that he should have challenged the charges and reference to online gambling. This of course makes the entire mess that surrounds the online gambling company even more confusing.
The online gambling company, which is based in Costa Rica, was considered to have breached the United States online gambling ban. Other executives from the company have already pled guilty as well, which leaves many wondering whether they will be changing their pleas also. It was expected that at the court hearing Carothers would be sentenced to 33 months in prison, but many wonder if this will now postpone that sentencing.
Carothers had reached a deal with the prosecution in April, and as he has already served more time then what was going to be sentenced, it was expected that he would be released immediately. The change of plea hearing has now been set for October 14, leaving many questioning his motives and wondering why after all this time he would change his plea at all. He had come under a lot of fire when he did it the first time, but now it seems a bit too late to change it.
