U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson yesterday ordered Neil Kaplan and Lori Kaplan-Multz each to spend ten months on house arrest.
Both Kaplans reside on the East Coast, and originally hail from New York. That's where their big brother, Gary Kaplan, got his start in book-making, according to court records, before heading offshore to warmer climes and seemingly looser laws on sports betting.
At BETonSPORTS' Costa Rica headquarters, the Kaplans toiled to make their book one of the most popular cyber-gambling outposts in the U.S. As one person interviewed by Riverfront Times stated, "Scott (Neil Kaplan) and G. (Gary Kaplan) worked hours and hours and hours, and the only thing they ever talked about was money and gambling. Some people talk about the weather, or how the Jets are doing, or how's your wife? -- or did you get laid last night. None of that ever came up. It was just about how much money can we make and how can we make more."
(For all the details, read RFT's 2007 feature story, "Double Down.")
A fellow co-conspirator was also sentenced yesterday: Penelope Ann Tucker, Gary Kaplan's former bookkeeper and assistant, received a year of probation and must relinquish $15,000 in related proceeds to the Department of Justice. Tucker is a Florida resident.
Several co-defendants in the case have yet to be sentenced, including BETonSPORTS' former CEO, David Carruthers. He is slated to appear before Judge Jackson on January 10.
One defendant, Norm Steinberg, still remains at large and is believed to reside in Central America.
