Haden Ware, co-founder of an Antigua-based sports betting website, has pleaded guilty to a gambling-related charge in the US.
Ware had been a fugitive since an indictment was returned in 2002, accusing him and two others of operating sports betting business World Sports Exchange from at least 1996 through to 1998.
The Associated Press agency reports that he pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in a Manhattan federal court, just one day after arriving in New York from Antigua.
“I took wagers over the internet and over interstate lines,” Ware admitted in court on Thursday.
Authorities have suggested a prison sentence of between six months to one year, although Ware’s lawyer, Jim Henderson, said that his client should spend no time incarcerated.
Ware has been released on $150,000 (€137,700) bail and has so far refused to comment.
Jay Cohen, a co-defendant in the case, served over a year in prison after a federal appeals court rejected his claim that he did not break any US laws as his business was based in Antigua, where betting is legal.
Related article: Antigua set to conclude online poker dispute with US
