Federal authorities stunned the sports world Thursday with arrests of more than 30 people — including Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier — after an investigation into illegal sports betting and poker rings that the FBI said were run by the Mafia.
Arrests on charges of wire fraud, extortion, illegal gambling and money laundering were made across 11 states.
The two investigations — one centered on illegal sports gambling, the other on rigged poker games — involved tens of millions of dollars, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a press conference.
“The fraud is mind-boggling,” Mr. Patel said. “It’s not hundreds of dollars. It’s not thousands of dollars. It’s not tens of thousands. It’s not millions. We’re talking tens of millions of dollars in fraud, in theft, in robbery across a multiyear investigation.”
Billups and Rozier face money laundering and wire fraud charges. The other defendants feature members from four of the “Five Families” associated with the Mafia.
In addition to the still active Billups and Rozier, authorities arrested former NBA player Damon Jones in the sting. After his journeyman playing career ended in 2012, Jones was on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ coaching staff from 2016 to 2018. He was also an unofficial assistant for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-2023 season.
PHOTOS: Miami Heat’s Rozier, Trail Blazers' Billups arrested in federal gambling probe, sources say
“We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today,” the NBA 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.”
‘Nothing But Bet’
Rozier was among six people charged in Operation Nothing But Bet. According to the indictment, the Heat guard shared inside information he acquired as a player with gamblers in exchange for a fee or a cut of their betting profits.
U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said the gambling ring “exploited confidential information” and used it to execute “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.”
The NBA investigated Rozier after sportsbooks flagged suspicious bets regarding his play with the Charlotte Hornets in 2023.
One sportsbook reported a surge in wagers, estimating that Rozier would hit the under on his points, rebounds and assists against the New Orleans Pelicans on March 23, 2023.
The bets were successful. Rozier left that game after 10 minutes with complaints of a foot injury.
NBA officials announced in January that they would not punish Rozier after a league investigation separate from the FBI probe.
The guard suited up for the Heat against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night but did not play because of a coach’s decision. Authorities arrested him at an Orlando hotel Thursday morning.
“As the NBA season tips off, his career is already benched. Not for injury but for integrity,” New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at the press conference.
Rozier’s representation insisted that he was a victim, not a co-conspirator, of the gambling conspiracy.
“They characterized Terry as a subject, not a target, but at 6 a.m. this morning they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel,” Jim Trusty, Rozier’s attorney, said in a statement to NBC News. “It is unfortunate that instead of allowing him to self-surrender, they opted for a photo op.”
The sports betting indictments featured a handful of unnamed co-conspirators, including a Florida resident who was an NBA player, a person from Oregon who was an NBA player from about 1997 to 2014 and a person who has coached in the NBA since 2021.
‘Royal Flush’
Jones was reportedly involved in both “overlapping” cases, the gambling ring and the rigged poker circuit, according to Mr. Nocella.
Jones is accused of sharing confidential information, while working with the Lakers, about an injury suffered by LeBron James. Multiple reports said the information gave gamblers an advantage.
Investigators did not specify Jones’ role in the card game operation.
The poker ring, which investigators called Operation Royal Flush, featured dozens of people running underground card games.
The games were rigged, authorities said. Mr. Nocella said the accused used hidden cameras, specialized contact lenses and sunglasses and an X-ray table to secretly view cards to gain an advantage.
Billups, 49, was reportedly involved in the poker ring as a “face card.” The ring brought in unsuspecting players using the allure of his celebrity status.
In addition to his coaching career, Billups became a household name as a five-time All-Star and an NBA champion with the Detroit Pistons. In 2009, Billups received the NBA’s Joe Dumars Trophy, the league’s sportsmanship award.
The Mafia used violence and extortion to ensure that players paid their debts, investigators said.
“Victims believed that they were sitting at a fair table,” Ms. Tisch said. “Instead, they were cheated out of millions.”
The indictment reported that one victim lost $1.8 million through the games. The poker games began in 2019 with events in New York City, Las Vegas and Miami, Ms. Tisch said.
“Your winning streak has ended,” said Mr. Nocella, addressing those arrested. “Your luck has run out. Violating the law is a losing proposition, and you can bet on that.”
Authorities arrested Billups in Oregon on Thursday morning. He coached the Trail Blazers in a season-opening home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.
The player turned analyst turned coach has led the Trail Blazers since 2021, amassing a 117-212 record. Assistant coach Tiago Splitter, a former NBA forward, will take over as Portland’s interim head coach.
Eroding trust
The arrests were the latest in a wave of scandals that have shaken the sporting world since the Supreme Court struck down a ban on sports betting in 2018.
“It erodes the public’s trust, whether it’s the NBA or any league that gets caught in this type of scandal,” said Lisa Delpy Neirotti, the director of George Washington University’s sports management program. “It’s just not a good look for sports.”
She said all the leagues can do is monitor suspicious activity and impose harsh punishments for those violating the rules.
The NBA banned former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter for life last year after he pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud as part of a sports gambling operation during his brief playing career.
Ippei Mizuhara, the former translator for Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, pleaded guilty to tax evasion and bank fraud charges after accumulating gambling debts. The Dodgers fired him, though MLB did not announce any additional discipline.
Leagues and their partners haven’t stopped jumping at big-money deals with sportsbooks. ESPN opened its own gambling app, ESPN BET, and leagues such as the NBA, NFL and MLB have countless deals with companies including FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM.
“Many fans have been feeling it’s a bit hypocritical, where you have the league making a lot of money and they have all this signage around the venue,” Ms. Neirotti said. “And then expecting players, coaches and officials not to be involved when it’s in their face too.”
You can’t put the sports betting genie back in the bottle, though. Even the NBA, which will receive countless hours of negative publicity from Thursday’s arrests, likely won’t cut off sportsbooks.
“It’s gone down the path too far,” Ms. Neirotti said. “Too many people are making too much money for sports betting to go away again.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is working to find a middle ground. He said on ESPN’s “Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday that he is urging betting partners to ease off on prop bets, which are wagers on an individual player’s performance. Players at the bottom of the roster, such as those on short-term or two-way contracts, are particularly dangerous.
“Guys who don’t have the same stake in the competition, where it’s too easy to manipulate something, which seems otherwise small and inconsequential to the overall score,” he said. “We’re trying to put in place — learning as we go and working with the betting companies — some additional control to prevent some of that manipulation.”
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Liam Griffin can be reached at lgriffin@washingtontimes.com.
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