According to federal prosecutors, Betonsports Plc, the British Internet sports book, should be cited for contempt of court after failing to appear for a scheduled arraignment in St. Louis federal court on Jan. 5.

The London-based company was indicted last summer for violating U.S. interstate wire gambling laws. Last week, Jeffrey Demerath, an attorney for the once-publicly traded company, told U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson in St. Louis that his clients had instructed him not to appear to answer the charges.

Betonsports' decision "suggests that corporate management is neither in a coma nor dead but, instead, contemptuous and defiant,'' prosecutor Michael Fagan said today in court papers.

The London-based company took in wagers in 2004 totaling $1.25 billion, 98 percent of which were sports bets placed by U.S. gamblers using Betonsports' Web sites and U.S. phone lines, Jackson said in a previous ruling.

Company Founder Gary Kaplan and now-former Chief Executive Officer David Carruthers were indicted on gambling and racketeering charges, along with nine other defendants. Prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of $4.5 billion.

Carruthers and six other defendants appeared in court July 31 to plead not guilty. Kaplan and two other defendants are still at large.

Demerath, an attorney with St. Louis-based Armstrong Teasdale, didn't return a call seeking comment. In November, he was one of two corporate attorneys who signed a consent agreement with federal prosecutors, paving the way for Jackson to issue an order permanently banning Betonsports from doing business in the U.S.

Fagan and co-counsel Marty Woelfle asked Jackson to impose fines on the company or order that its officers and directors be arrested for their "willful disregard'' of the court's processes and proceedings.

The case is U.S. v. Betonsports, 06cr337, in the Eastern District of Missouri at St. Louis.