Arraignment
On Monday July 31, 2006 the defendants in the criminal case were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge for the First Eastern District of Missouri, Mary Ann L. Medler.
Entering not guilty pleas were Neil Kaplan and Lori Kaplan Multz, brother and sister of BETonSPORTS plc. founder Gary Kaplan, along with BETonSPORTS employee Tim Brown; owner of Mobile Promotions Inc. William Lenis; Lenis' daughter and son Monica and William Luis Lennis, and his nephew Manny Lenis, who worked for Mobile Promotions.
An attorney for one of the Florida firms indicted, DME Global Marketing & Fulfillment Inc., entered a not guilty plea, while two other companies did not enter pleas, including BETonSPORTS Plc itself.
Carruthers was supposed to appear in the St. Louis court at the same time as the other defendants, but was still in the process of being transported from Fort Worth, Texas.
A not-guilty plea was entered for him, and it was ruled he would remain in custody until a $1 million (£539,000) bail bond arrangement could be finalized.
Later that day he appeared in front of the court, wearing leg irons, a white T-shirt and loose beige slacks, Carruthers only spoke to confirm his name, age and plea. Speaking outside the court, his lawyer, Tim Evans, said: "Right now, we want to get him out and living in clean sheets and clean clothes."
Read more about this topic: David Carruthers