BetonSports founder Gary Kaplan was denied bail on Wednesday in a St. Louis federal court. He will remain in custody until he faces trial.
Kaplan, who was detained in March in the Dominican Republic, was indicted in July 2006, along with 10 other individuals, and charged with racketeering, money laundering and fraud in connection with illegal Internet gambling. In addition, Kaplan was charged with evading federal excise taxes.
During a two-part detention hearing, the court heard damning evidence suggesting that Kaplan is a flight risk. For instance, when Kaplan was arrested he was in possession of five foreign passports, one handcuff key and a spiral notebook detailing plans to relocate to Nicaragua.
While Kaplan's legal team pulled out all the stops to refute the claims, Magistrate Judge Mary Ann Medler ruled that based on the weight of evidence against him, he should remain in federal custody pending trial.
Meanwhile, Kaplan has been granted until July 30 to file pretrial motions.
Click here to view Kaplan's detention order.