ST. LOUIS (Bloomberg) — Betonsports Plc pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and will face no further criminal prosecution as long as it cooperates with probes of former company officers including founder Gary Kaplan, the US said.Kaplan last week pleaded not guilty to racketeering and conspiracy charges stemming from the British online gambling company's acceptance of wagers from US bettors.

The company's plea "should put an end to the Betonsports illegal gambling empire", US Attorney Catherine Hanaway in St. Louis said yesterday in a statement.

The deal may end the London-based company's legal troubles in the US. Last July, prosecutors unsealed a 22-count indictment against the company and 11 individuals, including Kaplan and now-former chief executive officer David Carruthers. In November, the company consented to a ban on its US operations, ending a parallel civil lawsuit by the government.

Betonsports' attorney Jeffrey Demerath of St. Louis' Armstrong Teasdale law firm didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

The plea was entered before US District Judge Carol Jackson in St. Louis, Hanaway's spokeswoman Terri Dougherty said. The company was accused of violating US laws barring the electronic transmission of wagers across state and international borders. It also charged the individuals with racketeering conspiracy.

Kaplan, 48, entered his plea on May 14 before US Magistrate Judge Mary Ann Medler in St. Louis federal court, 10 months after US prosecutors unsealed their indictment. He was apprehended at a hotel in the Dominican Republic in March. He will remain jailed until his bail hearing tomorrow.

Carruthers, 49, was arrested last July as he changed planes at a Dallas-area airport. After entering a not-guilty plea, he posted $1 million in bail and was placed under house arrest in St. Louis.

The US claims that internet gambling, a $12 billion industry, violates federal laws against placing bets using a telephone or electronic means over state lines. A new US statute bars credit card companies from collecting payments for such transactions. Defence lawyers contest whether federal law makes the acceptance of US bets illegal.