NBA stars and mafia among dozens arrested in illegal gambling crackdown

As part of a comprehensive FBI investigation into rigged, mafia-linked poker games and illegal sports betting, an NBA player and coach are among those detained.

Federal prosecutors named Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier in two separate indictments on Thursday.

Rozier, 31, is one of six people detained for allegedly engaging in illegal gambling, as are other NBA players who may have fabricated injuries to sway the gambling industry.

An alleged scheme to lure victims into playing rigged poker games alongside famous athletes was discovered in that case, which prosecutors claimed involved four of the five major crime families in New York.

According to authorities, they did so using modern technology, including specially designed contact lenses and glasses capable of reading pre-marked cards and an X-ray table.

The NBA announced in a statement that Rozier and Billups would be given an immediate leave of absence while the federal indictments were being reviewed.

The statement read, “We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game continues to be our top priority.”

Rozier’s lawyer, who is the BBC’s US news partner, said: “Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight.”

In Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday, FBI Director Kash Patel revealed the two indictments at a press conference with other prosecutors. He described the arrests as “extraordinary” and claimed there had been a “coordinated takedown across 11 states.”

He claimed that “we’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud, theft, and robbery over the course of a multi-year investigation.”

The first case, according to the prosecution, involved players and business associates who allegedly manipulated bets on popular gambling sites using information that was not made public.

It was “one of the most blatant sports corruption schemes since the legalization of online sports betting” by Nocella.

The case included seven NBA games that occurred between February 2023 and March 2024. Rozier, who was a member of the Charlotte Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans, is said to have been a part of one of those events.

Rozier is alleged to have allegedly told a friend that the game would be postponed due to injury. The friend and his associates then placed bets on Rozier that would fall short of expectations, according to the prosecution.

He left the game after nine minutes, according to the report, which resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in betting profits for the participants.

According to the official NBA match report, Rozier played roughly nine minutes and only scored five points in the finale.

Prior to that game, he averaged 35 minutes of playing time and about 21 points per game.

Prosecutors “appear to be taking the word of spectacularly incredible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing,” according to Rozier’s lawyer, James Trusty, in a statement. The NBA cleared Terry, and these prosecutors reopened the case.

Trusty claimed he had represented Rozier for more than a year and that prosecutors had informed him that FBI agents were detained on Thursday morning and that he had been doing so because he was a target.

Damon Jones, a former NBA player, was also detained as part of the investigation.

In two of the identified games, Jones is said to have played both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder in January 2024, as well as the Los Angeles Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks in February 2023.

From 1992 until 2018, when the Supreme Court handed over state-level sports betting laws, sports betting was outlawed in the majority of the US.

31 defendants are alleged to have partcipated in a plot to rig illegal poker games and extort millions of dollars from the second indictment made available on Thursday.

13 members of the New York crime families Bonanno, Genovese, and Gambino were involved in the case.

Nocella claimed that the alleged victims were enticed to compete in Las Vegas, Miami, Manhattan, and the Hamptons with former professional athletes like Billups and Jones.

He claimed that victims were “fleeced” out of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per game.

He claimed that defendants used “very sophisticated technology” like altered off-the-shelf shuffling devices capable of reading cards. Pre-marked cards, as well as an X-ray table that could read cards face-down, were read by some of the defendants using special contact lenses and glasses.

Nocella claimed that “the victims” didn’t realize that everyone else at the poker game, from the dealer to the players, was involved in the con.

Tisch claimed that organized crime families used intimidation and threats to extort money from those who refused to pay.

Robbery, extortion, wire fraud, bank fraud, and illegal gambling are among the charges.

According to officials, the conspiracy cheated victims out of $1.7 million ($5.2 million), with one victim losing $1.8 million.