The FBI has arrested 34 people, including millions of dollars between all of them. Between March 2023 and March 2024, at least seven National Basketball Association games have been recorded to have illegal betting involved. The Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors are all involved. Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and Cleveland Cavalier assistant coach Damon Jones have been arrested and placed on leave from their teams.
Terry Rozier has been charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering, and was accused of betting using insider NBA information. According to an ESPN article, in three out of the seven games, there were players who purposely took themselves out of the games to benefit the gamblers’ bets. Billups was arrested, but charged in a separate indictment, for rigging underground poker games supported by Mafia families. They used technology to steal money from citizens in New York. Even though Billups wasn’t named in the sports betting indictment, it was said many players of the Trail Blazers would miss a game in March 2023, which matched up with Billups coaching career.
Before March 23, 2023, Rozier allegedly told his childhood friend, Deniro Laster, he would take himself out of a game in the first quarter. Laster sold the information to 2 bettors for $100,000, who then used the information to bet against Rozier’s odds. According to the indictment, Rozier paid for Laster to fly to Philadelphia, collect the money from the scheme and count the money with him.
Jones also allegedly sold inside information to bettors as he had close relationships with many prominent NBA players during his jobs with the Cavaliers and the Lakers. One player he supposedly had close relations to was Lakers Star LeBron James. On February 9, 2023, the Lakers played the Milwaukee Bucks, which is when Jones texted a conspirator to bet large on Milwaukee because he knew James was not going to play. The Lakers lost against the Bucks that night. James was not aware of the gambling activity by Jones.
Billups allegedly told bettors the Trail Blazers wouldn’t be playing many of their best players during the game against the Chicago Bulls on March 24, 2023, where Portland lost by 28 points. Involving the rigged poker games, Billups and Jones were accused of luring people into playing poker games rigged by the Mafia. They used cheating technologies like shuffling machines which could read cards, poker chip trays with hidden cameras, contact lenses and glasses that could read cards and an X-ray table. The Mafia; the Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese and Genovese families, used extortion and violence to make sure the players paid their bets. were involved. Since April 2019, players have lost over $7 million in the poker games.
These games took place in many locations throughout the United States, most prominently East Hampton, New York. Tony Goodson, Shane Hennen, Curtis Meeks and Robert Stroud were named the defendants who supplied the cheating technology. Many wealthy and popular individuals lured victims with their status to participate in the games. At the rigged poker games, members of the cheating teams used the technology to win the game. There was an off-site “Operator” who communicated information to members of the cheating teams so they could win. They laundered the money and used third parties to distribute the money secretly and protect the illegal poker games. From April 2019 to now, the poker schemes caused losses of about $7.2 million throughout all the victims. Mafia members would terrorize victims about unpaid debts they had,robbing them at gunpoint or assaulting them.
The FBI plans to prosecute over 30 individuals who have already been indicted and arrested. They face charges of wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery, and illegal gambling. The authorities are looking for more people involved or related to the schemes. The FBI is also working with the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, Major League Baseball, and the NBA to investigate further. Many leagues partner with third-party monitoring services like Sportradar and IC360, these programs use Artificial Intelligence and analytics to detect uncommonly large wagers or bets that might flag insider information or game manipulation.
“I apologize to our fans and we are all dealing with this situation,” said NBA Commissioner Terry Silver in regards to addressing the scandals.