Co-founder of Antigua-based sports bets site pleads guilty

NEW YORK (AP) A longtime fugitive and co-founder of an Antigua-based sports betting site has pleaded guilty to a gambling-related charge.

Haden Ware entered the plea Thursday in Manhattan federal court after returning to the United States a day earlier from Antigua and surrendering.

He had been a fugitive since an indictment was returned in 2002. A co-defendant, Jay Cohen, served over a year in prison after losing his claim that he did not break the law because his business was based in Antigua, where betting is legal.

The prosecution represented the first use of the U.S. Wire Wager Act.

Ware was reunited in the courtroom with his parents for the first time in two decades.

He was released on $150,000 bail. He declined comment. Sentencing was set for May 9.