NBA stars and mobsters among dozens arrested in crackdown on illegal gambling

An NBA player and coach are among dozens of people arrested as part of a wide-ranging FBI investigation into illegal sports betting and allegedly rigged, Mafia-linked poker games.

Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups were named by federal prosecutors in two separate indictments Thursday.

Rozier, 31, is among six people arrested over alleged betting irregularities. They include NBA players accused of faking injuries to influence gambling markets.

Billups, a Hall of Fame player who has coached the Portland Trail Blazers since 2021, is one of 31 people charged in another illegal poker gambling case involving retired players and the Mafia.

That case, which prosecutors say involved four of New York’s top five crime families, revealed an alleged scheme to lure victims into playing rigged poker games alongside high-profile sports stars before stealing millions of dollars.

To do this, they used technology including special contact lenses and glasses capable of reading pre-marked cards and an X-ray table, according to authorities.

The NBA said in a statement that Rozier and Billups were placed on immediate leave while the federal indictments are reviewed.

“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness and the integrity of our game remains our top priority,” he said.

Rozier’s lawyer denied the allegations to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, saying: “Terry is not a player, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he is eager to win this fight.”

He appeared in a federal court in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday and was released on bail after putting up his Florida home – valued at $6 million (£4.5 million) – as collateral, according to local media.

Billups was arrested in Portland, Oregon, and arraigned on Thursday, according to local media. He should also prepare a substantial bond for his release.

FBI Director Kash Patel held a news conference with other prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday where he announced the two indictments.

He called the arrests “extraordinary” and said there had been a “coordinated takedown across 11 states.”

“We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars of fraud, theft and burglary over the course of a multi-year investigation,” he said.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. said all defendants are innocent until proven guilty, but warned: “Your winning streak is over. Your luck has run out.”

Prosecutors said the first case involved players and associates who allegedly used non-publicly available information to manipulate betting on major gambling platforms.

Nocella called it “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting was widely legalized.”

Seven NBA games between February 2023 and March 2024 were identified in the case. Rozier was reportedly involved in a game between the Charlotte Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans, while playing for the Hornets.

Rozier reportedly told a friend he would leave the game early due to injury. The friend and his associates then bet, or directed others to bet “more than $200,000” that Rozier would not perform as expected in the game, prosecutors said.

He left the match after nine minutes, they said, generating tens of thousands of dollars in betting profits for those involved.

During the game, Rozier scored only five points before exiting due to right foot soreness, according to the NBA’s official game report.

Before this game, he was playing an average of 35 minutes and scoring around 21 points per game.

“As the NBA season begins, his career is already on the bench, not because of injury but for integrity,” said New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Rozier’s attorney, James Trusty, said in a statement that prosecutors “appear to take the word of spectacularly incredulous sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing. Terry was cleared by the NBA and these prosecutors have revived this non-case.”

Mr. Trusty said he had represented Rozier for more than a year and that prosecutors called Rozier a subject, not a target, until they informed him that FBI agents were arresting the player at a hotel Thursday morning.

Former NBA player Damon Jones was also arrested in connection with the investigation.

Jones was allegedly involved in two of the identified games – when the Los Angeles Lakers met the Milwaukee Bucks in February 2023 and a January 2024 game between the Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Sports betting was banned in most of the United States from 1992 until 2018, when the Supreme Court turned regulation of the practice over to the states.

Since the federal ban was lifted, sports betting has exploded, with major sports leagues and media companies striking deals with gambling companies to get into the billion-dollar industry.

The second indictment announced Thursday involves 31 defendants who allegedly participated in a scheme to rig illegal poker games and steal millions of dollars.

The case involved 13 members and associates of the Bonanno, Genovese and Gambino crime families in New York.

Nocella said targeted victims were lured into playing games with former professional athletes, including Billups and Jones, in Las Vegas, Miami, Manhattan and the Hamptons.

Victims were “defrauded” out of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per match, he explained.

He said the defendants used “very sophisticated technology” such as off-the-shelf, modified card shuffling machines that could read the cards. Some of the defendants used special contact lenses and glasses to read marked cards, as well as an x-ray table capable of reading face-down cards.

“What [the victims] I didn’t know that everyone else in the poker game, from the dealer to the players, was involved in the scam,” Nocella said.

Tisch explained that when people refused to pay, organized crime families used threats and intimidation to get them to hand over the money.

The charges include theft, extortion, wire fraud, bank fraud and illegal gambling.

The conspiracy defrauded victims out of $7 million, with one victim losing $1.8 million, officials said.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Christopher Raia, deputy director of the FBI’s New York field office, adding that the FBI was working hard to ensure that members of mafia families “cannot continue to wreak havoc on our communities.”