What we know so far
• A sprawling FBI probe into mafia-linked gambling and sports rigging schemes led to the arrests this morning of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, according to federal law enforcement officials. The NBA says both men have been placed on leave.
• The investigation involved two major operations: One centered on the use of insider information to place bets on various NBA games and another revolving around underground poker games, where “high-tech cheating technology” was used to steal millions from victims, US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.
• Among the defendants in the dual operations are members of four major American crime families, as well as current and former NBA players and coaches, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
Sports gambling suspensions for pro athletes are on the rise
Today’s sports rigging and gambling indictments — which included arrests of an active NBA player and head coach — mark the latest in a slate of professional athletes and coaches facing gambling investigations.
Since the Supreme Court declared bans on sports gambling unconstitutional in 2018, at least 23 professional players or coaches have been suspended or permanently banned from their leagues for sports betting violations.
While no major-league professional athletes have faced gambling-related disciplinary suspensions or bans yet this year, Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been on paid leave since July due to an MLB probe of sports betting.
The NBA says Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trailblazers coach Chauncey Billups have been placed on leave after their arrests this morning.
What we learned from the indictments about the alleged gambling schemes involving NBA players and the mafia
Rigged poker games, insider sports betting and mafia ties. And no, it’s not a new Hollywood movie — these are elements of alleged illegal gambling schemes laid out in two indictments today, following a years-long investigation.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Chauncey Billups, were arrested in connection to the probe. Their initial court hearings will happen later today. A third NBA figure, former player Damon Jones, is also being charged in the investigation, officials said.
Here’s what we know about the dual operations — one centered on an underground poker ring and the other on fixed sports betting on NBA games — from officials and the indictments:
Poker games:
- Top lines: The defendants, including members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese New York crime families, are accused of using cheating technology to steal millions from victims during rigged poker games in Manhattan and other parts of the state.
- Who was involved: Organizers enlisted NBA figures — including Billups — to sit at the table and help make the games appear legitimate to victims, according to law enforcement.
- How it unfolded: The defendants used a shuffling machine to count the cards and predict who had the best hand, prosecutors allege. That information was then transmitted to someone sitting at the table who used signals to communicate it with others in on the scheme. They also used decoy cell phones and marked cards that could only be seen with special glasses, the indictment says.
- The financial losses: It is estimated the victims lost more than $7 million in the games since 2019, according to the indictment. One particular victim losing $1.8 million in total, documents say.
- Additional allegations: The scheme went beyond just fixing poker games and involved violence, including robberies, the indictment says. The defendants are also accused of laundering money using shell companies and cryptocurrency, documents show.
Sports betting:
- What happened: Defendants named in this indictment are accused of exploiting insider information to bet on NBA games, US Attorney Joe Nocella said. The nature of this information included things like when players would be sitting out and when they would pull themselves out of a game due to injury, he said.
- How the scheme worked: The player information would be passed a long to other members of the scheme, who would wager money, documents say, mostly on individual player performances and statistics. Noecella said it involved the performance of players on several teams, including the Charlotte Hornets, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Lakers.
- Injury reports: In one instance, the indictment details how Rozier allegedly faked an injury in 2023. He told another person involved that he was going to leave the game early, allowing members of the group to bet on the “under” of his statistics, as outlined in the indictment. In another example, Jones is accused of leaking information about LeBron James’ injury to bettors, according to court documents.
CNN’s Kyle Feldscher, Amy Woodyatt and Haven Orecchio-Egresitz contributed reporting to this post.
Portland Trail Blazers say coach Chauncey Billups has been placed on leave after arrest
The Portland Trail Blazers say Tiago Splitter will take over head coaching duties after Chauncey Billups was placed on leave following his arrest this morning.
Billups has been the coach in Portland since 2021.
CNN has also contacted the Miami Heat, which declined to comment separately on the arrest of guard Terry Rozier and directed CNN to the NBA’s statement on the investigation. Rozier has also been placed on leave, according to the league.
These are the NBA games at the center of the betting probe
The US Justice Department laid out in detail this morning how several NBA players and coaches, including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, allegedly used non-public information about upcoming NBA games to allow others to profit on betting.
These are the relevant games listed by the Justice Department in a news release:
March 23, 2023 — Charlotte Hornets vs. New Orleans Pelicans
Rozier allegedly tipped off longtime friend Deniro Laster that he planned to leave the game early due to a supposed injury. He then left the game after 9 minutes, “generating tens of thousands of dollars in profits,” according to the DOJ.
March 24, 2023 — Portland Trail Blazers vs. Chicago Bulls
Defendant Eric Earnest allegedly “received, and then passed on, insider information from a longtime friend, an NBA coach at the time, that several of the Blazers’ top players would sit out a game against the Chicago Bulls,” the DOJ said.
April 6, 2023 — Orlando Magic vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
A co-conspirator allegedly “leveraged a relationship” with a Magic player to learn that several of the team’s top players would sit out a game against the Cavaliers, the DOJ said.
February 9, 2023 — Los Angeles Lakers vs. Milwaukee Bucks and January 15, 2024 — Los Angeles Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
Former NBA player Damon Jones allegedly “shared and sold insider information on numerous occasions about undisclosed information relating to NBA games, such as lineup decisions and pre-release medical information, to his co-conspirators,” according to the DOJ. One of these exchanges came ahead of a game in which superstar LeBron James did not play.
January 26, 2024 — Toronto Raptors vs. Los Angeles Clippers and March 20, 2024 — Toronto Raptors vs. Sacramento Kings
Former Raptors player Jontay Porter allegedly told connections that “he would prematurely exit the games” due to supposed injuries, the DOJ said.
How Terry Rozier allegedly faked an injury to win scheme members thousands in bets
Terry Rozier, an NBA player who was playing for the Charlotte Hornets at the time, took himself out of a 2023 game with a fake injury so other members of the scheme could bet on his statistics, prosecutors allege in new court documents.
Officials say Rozier told Deniro Laster, who he had known since childhood, that he was going to remove himself from the Hornets’ March 23, 2023, game against the New Orleans Pelicans in the first quarter due to a head injury, the indictment says.
Hornets officials were not aware of his plan to exit the game early, prosecutors said, nor were betting companies.
Rozier’s early exit from the game allowed Laster to place bets on his “under” statistics. The indictment details how Rozier’s points and assists were below his previous per-game averages.
New York police commissioner Jessica Tisch said earlier today members of the scheme were paid out “tens of thousands of dollars in profit” on the bets.
Rozier is currently a player for the Miami Heat.
NBA players union reacts to arrests
The NBA Players Association has issued its first statement after the news of current and former players being arrested in a gambling probe.
Prosecutors detail Billups and Jones' career earnings, don't ask for pretrial detainment
Prosecutors said in their detention memo that Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones, who are each charged in the federal probe, have substantial financial resources.
As an NBA player from 1997 to 2013, Billups’ lifetime career earnings exceeded $100 million, and he currently has a multi-year contract to serve as the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers for an undisclosed salary, prosecutors said.
As for Jones, prosecutors say he earned more than $20 million as an NBA player from 1998 to 2009. After his retirement from the NBA, he has worked as an NBA coach and analyst, prosecutors note.
In the poker case, prosecutors didn’t ask that Jones and Billups be detained pretrial, only that they be released with conditions to ensure that they do not flee, attempt to obstruct justice, or commit additional crimes.
Members of poker scheme used violence and threats when debts weren't paid, documents say
Members of the illicit poker scheme at times resorted to violence when victims failed to pay their debts on time, prosecutors alleged.
“Watch what’s good now,” defendant Zhen Hu allegedly texted one victim in 2022 who had not yet paid a gambling debt. “You’ve even running your mouth unchecked.”
Hu allegedly punched the unnamed victim in the face, a move prosecutors say he confirmed in a message to an associate that read, “I punched somebody in the face the other day, s**ts unraveling quick.”
Prosecutors also alleged Hu and three other individuals approached the unnamed victim again sometime later, and the victim was again attacked.
“What you did was cowardly and ridiculous,” the victim texted Hu nearly a year later, according to prosecutors. “And then u send a bunch of goons to solve your problems.”
Overall, prosecutors allege more than $7 million was swindled in the scheme.
Rigged shuffling machines and card-reading chip trays: A look at the technology in the fixed poker games
Wealthy people sat down at poker tables in Manhattan, lured to the game often by former well-known professional athletes, expecting fair odds of winning. But behind the scenes, an elaborate scheme of advanced technology was tipping the scales, according to an indictment today detailing what prosecutors described as a massive mafia-linked gambling probe.
From start to finish, prosecutors say the defendants employed a host of tactics to make sure they came out on top, stripping millions from their victims.
First, shuffling machines that looked like they were randomizing the cards, were in reality reading the deck and predicting who got the best hand, the according to the indictment.
That information was then transmitted to an operator who relayed the intel to a person seated at the table. The person at the table — who was in on the scheme — would then signal to other members of the team, the indictment said.
Officials said the defendants also used electronic poker chip trays and decoy cellphones that were used to analyze and read cards on the table.
Other cards “had markers visible only to individuals wearing specially designed contact lenses or sunglasses,” the indictment said.
Indictment alleges Damon Jones leaked information on LeBron James injury to bettors
One of the examples of inside information allegedly being used to help gamblers involves former NBA player Damon Jones leaking injury information that wasn’t public during a February 2023 game.
According to the indictment, prosecutors allege that on the morning of February 9, 2023, ahead of a Los Angeles Lakers game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Jones sent a text to a co-conspirator that read, “Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out! [Player 3] is out tonight. Bet enough so Djones can eat to [sic] now!!!”
While the indictment does not name Player 3, Lakers star LeBron James did not play in that game.
The indictment alleges that the information Jones provided was not public when he released it. He was working as an unofficial assistant coach for the Lakers at the time, worked as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers during James’ second stint with that team, and played with James on the Cavs from 2005-2008.
Read the indictment that names Terry Rozier and Damon Jones
Six people were indicted in a mafia-linked sports betting scheme, in which insider information was used place bets on NBA games, according to the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones are among the defendants.
You can read the full indictment here:
NBA issues first statement since news of Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier arrests
The NBA said Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier are on immediate leave from their teams in the league’s first statement since the news of their arrests this morning.
“We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today,” the league said in a statement.
“Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities. We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”
Billups coached the Portland Trail Blazers’ opening game on Wednesday, while Rozier sat out the Miami Heat’s opener against the Orlando Magic.
These are the 2 operations at the center of the NBA gambling and sports rigging scandal
The FBI says there are two major operations at the center of its probe into illegal gambling and sports rigging involving current and former NBA figures and New York crime families.
This is what we know about the cases:
Rigged poker games: Thirty-one defendants are “alleged to have participated in a nationwide scheme to rig illegal poker games,” according to US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr.
At underground card games involving well-known public figures, “high-tech cheating technology” was used to steal millions from victims, Nocella said.
This included “custom shuffling machines that could read the order of cards, barcoded decks and hidden cameras built into tables and light fixtures,” according to New York City’s police commissioner.
Games in the New York area were backed by the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families, according to the US attorney. Organizers enlisted NBA figures — including Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, who was arrested this morning — to sit at the table and help make the games appear legitimate to victims, according to law enforcement.
Illegal betting on NBA games: The US attorney said the other scheme involved using insider information to place bets on NBA games. Nocella said the perpetrators used non-public information about NBA players and teams to profit on gambling.
The information used included details about whether specific players would be sitting out future games, or when they would pull themselves out early for purported injuries or illnesses, the US attorney said.
“They also misused information obtained through long-standing friendships that they had with NBA players and coaches,” and in at least one instance, threatened a current player into handing over information over his preexisting gambling debts, Nocella said.
The defendants used the non-public information to place hundreds of thousands of dollars in bets at online sports books and at casinos, mostly in the form of “prop” bets, which center on an individual player’s performance, according to the US attorney.
Read the full rigged poker game scheme indictment
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York has released its full indictment naming the 31 defendants charged in the underground poker game scheme.
Law enforcement officials say the defendants — which include members of four American crime families — used cheating technology to steal millions from victims during the rigged games.
You can read all the details about the scheme in the 22-page indictment:
What we know so far about the figures involved in the sports rigging and gambling cases
Federal law enforcement officials outlined some of the key figures and organizations involved in the massive mafia-linked gambling and sports rigging probe shaking the NBA this morning.
If you’re just joining our coverage, here’s what we know so far:
NBA figures: Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and former NBA player Damon Jones are the three league figures named as facing charges so far, law enforcement officials tell CNN Sports.
Mafia families: Thirteen members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese New York crime families are among the defendants in the two cases, according to Christopher Raia, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office. Raia said an illegal gambling operation created a “financial pipeline” for La Cosa Nostra.
Teams whose games were bet on: While many specifics of the scheme are still unknown, the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York said there were specific examples of “illegal betting on various NBA games” that hinged on the performances of players on teams including the Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors.
Hakeem Jeffries shocked by mafia-linked NBA gambling probe
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Thursday that the case is stunning and should shake NBA fans.
Speaking to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room,” Jeffries said: “It’s a stunning development. The indictment seems very wide-ranging. Of course, every single one of the individuals charged are entitled to the presumption of innocence. But it was a development that I think shocks the conscience of a lot of folks, particularly those who follow the NBA closely.”
Jeffries represents New York, where the case was revealed on Thursday morning, and is a long-time fan of the New York Knicks.
Alleged involvement of NBA figures in these cases will send 'shockwaves' through the league, says CNN's Elie Honig
The alleged involvement of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups in this large-scale sports rigging and gambling probe is likely to rock the NBA, according to CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig.
Speaking on “The Situation Room,” Honig pointed out that many defendants in these two cases are not linked to the NBA at all, but members of the mafia or people who have become involved in gambling rings.
“That’s what makes this case so remarkable – there’s such a sprawling enterprise,” said Honig. “And to see prominent members of the NBA working with, dealing with illegal gamblers – in some cases, perhaps mobsters – I think that’s going to send shockwaves through the NBA’s headquarters in Manhattan.”
US attorney alleges some of the defendants in the case used violence
US Attorney Joe Nocella alleged that the poker game scheme went beyond just fixing poker games and involved violence, including robberies.
“The defendants laundered their proceeds – including through cash exchanges, the use of multiple shell companies and through cryptocurrency transfers,” he said.
The press conference has concluded
After a series of questions from reporters in attendance, the press conference has wrapped up in New York City.
FBI official says illegal gambling operation created "financial pipeline" for La Cosa Nostra
Among the defendants in these two cases are 13 members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families, according to Christopher Raia, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office.
He added: “Let me be clear about this fact — the FBI has not, and will never, take their eye off the ball when it comes to Italian-organized crime in this city, specifically the LCN and the five families here in New York.”
