A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected the appeal of a former online gambling honcho who sought to avoid paying $36 million in back taxes and penalties.

Gary Kaplan once headed BetOnSports, which was one of the world's largest online gambling operations. He was sentenced in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in 2009 to 51 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $43.65 million.

Kaplan was told that the criminal case did not preclude authorities from pursuing him for back taxes. But when they sought more than $25 million in taxes and penalties for 2004 and more than $11 million for 2005, Kaplan appealed. His arguments included claims that the statute of limitations had run and that his plea agreement to the criminal charge barred the tax claim.

The U.S. Tax Court rejected Kaplan's appeal, saying his plea agreement was unambiguous.

On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Court of Appeals agreed.

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