Portland Path Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Warmth guard Terry Rozier and former NBA participant Damon Jones had been three of greater than 30 individuals arrested by the FBI on Thursday morning as a part of an in depth federal grand jury investigation into unlawful sports activities betting and playing break up throughout two circumstances.
The NBA launched a press release on Thursday afternoon that each Rozier and Billups had been being positioned on “quick depart” from the Warmth and Blazers, respectively.
“We’re within the technique of reviewing the federal indictments introduced at the moment,” the league mentioned. “Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being positioned on quick depart from their groups, and we’ll proceed to cooperate with the related authorities. We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our sport stays our prime precedence.”
Billups and Jones are being charged for allegedly participating in unlawful high-stakes poker video games operated by organized crime, whereas Rozier was arrested in reference to a sports activities betting ring involving present and former NBA gamers buying and selling inside, private data largely about accidents and diseases.
“The FBI led a coordinated takedown throughout 11 states to arrest over 30 people at the moment on this case, which could be very a lot ongoing,” FBI director Kash Patel mentioned in. Thursday press briefing. “Not solely did we crack into the fraud that these perpetrators dedicated on the grand stage of the NBA, we additionally entered an executed a system of justice in opposition to [La Casa Nostra].”
U.S. lawyer Joseph Nocella shared that the sports activities betting scheme involving Rozier, Jones and 4 others occurred from December 2022 to March 2024 and concerned seven NBA video games:
The data obtained by the likes of Rozier and Jones was allegedly distributed to a community of bettors that positioned wagers price a whole lot of 1000’s of {dollars} at on-line sportsbooks and in particular person at casinos.
Rozier has been implicated for the Hornets-Pelicans sport, through which he pulled himself early from the competition, a transfer that was allegedly preplanned. Legislation enforcement claims $200,000 was wagered throughout a wide range of sportsbooks on his prop wager unders.
Jones is implicated for his position in relaying inside data on the 2 Lakers video games. This probe, “Operation Nothing However Guess,” is expounded to the Jontay Porter case. Two of the defendants — neither Rozier nor Jones — allegedly threatened Porter, forcing him to stay concerned within the scheme.
The FBI and NBA had been wanting into Porter, who was banned from the NBA in 2024, for his position in a sports activities betting scandal targeted on his prop bets. Porter ended up being one among three males to plead responsible within the case; he’s presently awaiting sentancing.
“The personal data included when particular gamers could be sitting out future video games, or once they would pull themselves out early for purported accidents or diseases,” Nocella defined. “They relied on corrupt people, together with Jones and Rozier. In addition they misused data by means of longstanding friendships that they had with NBA gamers and coaches. And in not less than one occasion, they obtained their data by threatening a present participant, Porter, due to his pre-existing playing money owed.”
The six defendants within the sports activities betting case, together with Rozier and Jones, are being charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit cash laundering. Billups and Jones might be charged equally as a part of the rigged poker video games indictment that was tied to La Cosa Nostra, organized crime households in New York.
“The mafia … had preexisting management over non-rigged, unlawful poker video games round New York Metropolis,” Nocella shared. “Consequently, additionally they turned concerned within the rigged poker video games, serving to to prepare the video games and taking a minimize of the proceedings — and dealing to implement the gathering of money owed.”
Nocella detailed how the video games focused “fish” — high-net price people — to take part in unlawful poker video games that utilized wi-fi expertise permitting its hosts to cheat. Among the many instruments used had been rigged shuffle machines, X-ray tables that might learn playing cards face down and particular contact lenses and eyeglasses that might learn premarked playing cards. People labored in live performance with others monitoring the poker video games off web site, sending indicators to the gamers on the desk.
Billups and Jones had been allegedly among the many “face playing cards” — movie star gamers serving to lure the “fish” into the scheme.
Rozier was arrested at a resort in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday morning and can seem at federal courtroom in Orlando later within the day. The Warmth had been on the town taking part in the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, a sport through which Rozier didn’t take part as a coach’s choice. Billups was arrested in Portland, Oregon, because the Blazers are between residence video games. He’ll seem at federal courtroom in Portland later Thursday. Each males set to be arraigned in Brooklyn at a future date.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, showing Tuesday on “The Pat McAfee Present,” known as for extra rules to sports activities betting as a method of lowering potential sport manipulation.
“We have requested a few of our companions to tug again among the prop bets, particularly once they’re on two-way gamers, guys who do not have the identical stake within the competitors, the place it is too simple to control one thing, which appears in any other case small and inconsequential to the general rating,” mentioned Silver, who was the primary main sports activities commissioner in the US to assist sports activities betting laws. “We’re attempting to place in place — studying as we go and dealing with the betting firms — some extra management to forestall a few of that manipulation.”
Sportsbooks in a number of states flagged uncommon in betting exercise in relation to Rozier’s statistical props previous to a sport between the Hornets and Pelicans on March 23, 2023. Within the span of 46 minutes, there have been 30 wagers from knowledgeable sports activities bettor that totaled $13,759 on the beneath for Rozier’s factors, rebounds and assists, which precipitated a number of sportsbooks to shut down prop betting on his statistics.
Rozier, who was on the Hornets on the time, performed simply 10 minutes earlier than leaving the competition attributable to a foot damage.
Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, beforehand instructed ESPN that Rozier met with FBI and NBA officers on a number of events in 2023 when the preliminary investigation started. Rozier maintained his innocence in relation to the case, beforehand getting cleared by means of an NBA probe.
“The league carried out an investigation and didn’t discover a violation of NBA guidelines,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass mentioned in January 2025. “We are actually conscious of an investigation by the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Jap District of New York associated to this matter and have been cooperating with that investigation.”
Trusty said Thursday that Rozier’s arrest got here as a shock contemplating his consumer believed he was cooperating with regulation enforcement.
“They characterised Terry as a topic, not a goal, however at 6 a.m. this morning, they known as to inform me FBI brokers had been attempting to arrest him in a resort,” Trusty instructed Pablo Torre. “It’s unlucky that, as an alternative of permitting him to self give up, they opted for a photograph op. They needed the misplaced glory of embarrassing knowledgeable athlete with a perp stroll. That tells you numerous in regards to the motivations on this case. They seem like taking the phrase of spectacularly in-credible sources relatively than counting on precise proof of wrongdoing. Terry was cleared by the NBA and these prosecutors revived that non-case. Terry isn’t a gambler, however he’s not afraid of a struggle, and he appears ahead to profitable this struggle.”
Rozier by no means performed for the Hornets once more following that 2023 sport; he was traded that season to the Warmth in January 2024. The next season, he averaged 10.6 factors, 3.7 rebounds and a pair of.6 assists in 64 video games with Miami.
