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FBI conducts operation against sports betting/ NBA stars and mafia members end up in handcuffs

2025-10-23 20:37:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

FBI conducts operation against sports betting/ NBA stars and mafia members end

FBI Director Kash Patel

Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier were arrested on October 23 on suspicion of involvement in illegal betting, US officials said.

Billups, a former Detroit Pistons player and member of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Hall of Fame, was arrested in connection with illegal and rigged poker games, allegedly linked to mafia families, FBI Director Kash Patel announced.

Rozier and assistant basketball coach Damon Jones are among six people arrested in the sports betting case, Patel said at a news conference in New York.

US Attorney Joseph Nocella said Billups, 49, was one of 34 people charged with alleged involvement in a "national scheme to manipulate illegal poker games" that used "advanced cheating technology".

The assistant director of the FBI's New York office, Christopher Raia, said that in separate investigations, 34 people have been arrested for illegal sports betting and poker, including 13 mafia members and their associates.

Rozier and Jones are alleged to have "participated in one of the largest sports corruption schemes since the legalization of online betting in the US," Nocella said.

He described the case as "an internal sports betting conspiracy that exploited confidential information regarding NBA athletes and teams."

Those arrested were allegedly involved in illegal betting on the performance of players from the Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors, prosecutor Nocella said.

He said the NBA has cooperated with the investigation that led to the indictments being filed Thursday.

New York City Police Chief Jessica Tisch cited an example from the March 23, 2023, game when Rozier was playing for the Hornets.

Rozier informed the other people that he "had planned to leave the game early, due to an alleged injury," Tisch said.

"Using this information, members of the group placed over $200,000 in bets on his expected performance in the game ," she added. "Rozier was eliminated after just nine minutes, and those bets paid off, generating tens of thousands of dollars in profit."

As for the poker games that were allegedly rigged, in the case involving Billups, the organizers, according to authorities, used "special card-shuffling machines that could read cards with barcodes and hidden cameras placed on the tables and lights," Tisch said.

"The victims believed they were sitting at a table where the game would be fair," she said. "Instead, they were scammed out of millions of dollars."

Billups retired as a player in 2014 and has been the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers since 2021. He led the team on Wednesday, when it suffered a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Rozier, 31, joined the Boston Celtics in 2015. He has averaged 13.9 points per game and played for three teams during his 11-year NBA career.

Rozier suffered an injury and did not play in the game played on Wednesday.

Prosecutor Nocella said the indictment in the sports betting case is related to last year's arrest of former NBA player Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors, who was banned from playing in the league for life for his role in the betting scandal.

Porter was accused of placing bets related to his performance in the game. He has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and is awaiting sentencing.

According to the rules, NBA players are prohibited from placing bets on NBA games.

Meanwhile, in July, former NBA player Gilbert Arenas was arrested on charges of organizing illegal poker games at his Los Angeles villa. /REL