FBI arrests 34 in NBA, poker gambling probe involving crime families
Thirty-one people including Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups were arrested along with 32 others on Thursday morning in a wide-ranging sports wagering and underground poker fraud case.
The defendants, including 13 members and associates of New York-based crime families, are accused of using insider National Basketball Association information to win player prop bets along with using technology to rig poker games.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel and United States Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. announced the charges on Thursday along with local law enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security.
“Your winning streak has ending,” Nocella said. “Your luck has run out.”
The insider non-public NBA information included knowledge of when specific players would miss future games and leave games early due to illness or injury, authorities said, and claimed that former NBA player Jontay Porter was threatened for information based on prior gambling debts.
The games involved the Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, LA Lakers and Toronto Raptors between December 2022 and March 2024.
The bettors would wager on players scoring fewer points or getting less rebounds and assists than expected when the players left a game early.
One example was Rozier, who was accused of leaving a game on March 23, 2023, so that $200,000 in bets placed on his performance would win.
“We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud,” Patel said.
The poker games were one using sophisticated technology including hidden cameras in poker chips, X-ray tables, cameras and lighting in the room and altered shuffling machines.
Information was relayed from that technology to players at the table in order to help them win with one bettor losing $1.8 million in a rigged game, accordng to New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
There were three overlapping defendants in the poker and NBA cases, including former Cleveland Cavaliers player Damon Jones.
Events
Latest News Stories
WATCH: Trump administration seeks to make fertility, IVF treatments more affordable
States say they get big return on anti-Trump litigation
WATCH: Braver Angels CEO: Political dialogue is still possible – even in deep-blue WA
Des Moines school board chair ends U.S. Senate campaign amid superintendent controversy
Former national security advisor Bolton indicted by grand jury
Retail advocate: ‘Empty storefronts’ will result from Chicago mayor’s budget
Illinois quick hits: SNAP to cut Nov. 1 if shutdown continues; Guard-blocking order stays in place
Energy Dept’s Haustveit at Louisiana Summit: ‘More reliable energy’ needed
Trump says U.S. won’t survive without tariffs, businesses say they won’t survive with them
Nonprofit in tariff challenge case hits back at Trump
Hanover Park, Illinois, police officer arrested by immigration enforcement
Florida sues California, Washington for licensing immigrants
