Carruthers was chief executive of the betting firm Betonsports until he was arrested in 2006 while changing planes at Dallas airport en route from Britain to the company's operational base in Costa Rica. In a case that drew international attention and accusations of judicial over-reach, the Scottish businessman was accused of breaking US law for presiding over a company that accepted unlawful sports bets on the internet from Americans.
In April, he agreed to plead guilty under a deal with prosecutors in return for a recommended penalty of 33 months' imprisonment. The reason for Carruthers's apparent change of heart is unclear. Carruthers nor his lawyer, Scott Rosenblum, responded to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for the US attorney's office in St Louis said prosecutors would not discuss the case.
The development will come as a surprise to Carruthers's supporters who had hoped that he would be allowed to return home on Friday. His lawyers were expected to argue that the 52-year-old businessman has effectively served his agreed sentence of 33 months through his hotel confinement on us$ 1 million bail since August 2006.
Several other Betonsports executives are still pleading guilty, including the company's founder, Gary Kaplan.