FBI arrests NBA stars, exposes La Cosa Nostra crime ties in gambling scandal

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the arrest of 34 people, including Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA guard and coach Damon Jones, as part of a broader investigation into an illegal gambling scheme.

FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed at a news conference in New York on Thursday that the investigation was linked to an investigation involving members of the La Cosa Nostra crime family that focused on illegal gambling operations and sports rigging operations that “spanned over a period of years.”

“Not only did we fend off the fraud committed by these criminals on the grand stage of the NBA, but we entered and executed the justice system against La Cosa Nostra to include the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese crime families.”

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“It takes brave prosecutors to stand up to you and say, we’re not going to allow this type of illegal activity to get away, not just at the national sporting level, but at La Cosa Nostra,” Patel added. “And when these two collided, they committed fraud that is historic not only in terms of money, but schemes and fraud used to steal and defraud people’s money to include crypto fraud.”

Portland Trail Blazers NBA coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were arrested Thursday on illegal gambling charges. Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested in connection with illegal poker games linked to the Mafia, FBI Director Kash Patel said. Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones were arrested in connection with the sports betting case, Patel said at a press conference in New York. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

Joseph Nocella, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, explained that two indictments were announced Thursday, both for fraud. The first focused on sports betting and the second involved illegal gambling linked to “rigged poker games”.

“These defendants, including former professional players, used high-tech fraud technology to steal millions of dollars from victims in secretly fixed underground poker games,” Nocella said. “The games in the New York area were supported by the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families of La Cosa Nostra.”

The games allegedly took place in the Hamptons, Las Vegas, Miami and Manhattan. Nosella alleged that Billups and Jones were used as “face cards” to attract targeted victims, known as “fish,” looking to play with former professional athletes.

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“What the victim, the fish, didn’t know was that everyone else in the poker game, from the dealer to the players, including the face cards, was in on the scam.”

Nocella said the crime families were involved because of New York’s “pre-existing control over non-rigged illegal poker games.” Of the 34 defendants, 13 are alleged members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families, including high-ranking “capos and soldiers of this family.”

La Cosa Nostra

According to the FBI, the La Cosa Nostra (LCN) crime families evolved from the Sicilian Mafia and are a New York-based network consisting of five “families”: the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese. Its spread to the United States dates back to the 1920s.

Other cities with active LCN relationships include Philadelphia, Detroit and Chicago, and the New England area.

These organizations are said to be involved in alleged crimes, many notable cases involving sports scandals. In the United States, sports betting and match-fixing crimes have a long history that has been directly and indirectly linked to organized crime.

Boxing 1950-1960

American gangster and boxing manager Frank Carbo leaves the Beach Street police station in New York on August 7, 1959 after receiving a 10-count indictment for irregularities in his professional boxing affairs. (Neil Boenzi/New York Times Company/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Frank “Frankie” Carbo, a known Lucchese fighter, and his longtime partner Frank “Blinky” Palermo were convicted of extortion and conspiracy in 1961 after using threats and intimidation to control world welterweight champion Don Jordan. The case exposed mob control of the sport at the time, highlighted by Carbo and Palermo’s fighting and promotional influence. The convictions were later upheld, and the case exposed deep corruption that, decades later, spurred reform movements in the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 and the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act of 2000.

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1951 College basketball point-shaving scandal

Two City College basketball stars, Al Roth (foreground) and Ed Warner (with hat), are taken by detectives to Elizabeth Street Station House to be booked on bribery charges. Police said two Beaver stars, along with teammate Ed Roman and three other men, have confessed to their parts in the new basketball fixing scandal, which includes “throwing” several city games this season. (Bateman Archive/Getty Images)

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York uncovered an extensive point-shaving scheme involving players from several major programs, including the City College of New York (CCNY) and Long Island University (LIU), that accepted bribes linked to an organized crime gambling syndicate in New York. The investigation resulted in more than 30 indictments and led to prison time for key figures and lifetime bans from the NBA for the players involved. No specific crime family was ever formally charged in the case, but one of the main fixers, Salvatore T. Solazzo, was reported to have ties to New York’s underworld gambling network.

The Boston College men’s basketball point-shaving scandal

Rick Kuhn (#35) during the 1978-1979 season of Boston College men’s basketball. (Boston Globe via Joe Dennehy/Getty Images)

The most obvious example of La Cosa Nostra’s reach into sports was the scandal of 1978-79. Boston College and two associates of the Lucchese crime family. Two associates, Henry Hill and James “Jimmy the Gent” Burke, paid thousands of dollars to manipulate game scores for betting profits that season with the help of Pittsburgh bookmaker Paul Mazzei. An FBI investigation and federal prosecution led to Boston College player Rick Kuhn being sentenced to 10 years in prison, including several convictions. Burke was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but Hill avoided direct prosecution for embezzlement in exchange for his cooperation with the authorities.

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Several other illegal sports betting and gambling operations linked to New York crime families have been prosecuted over the years. This year, five members of the Lucchese crime family and associates pleaded guilty to running an illegal online betting operation that raked in an estimated $1 million annually over several years of operation. In 2024, 17 individuals connected to the Gambino family were indicted for a sports gambling operation that handled more than $22 million in illegal bets, the New York State Attorney General’s Office announced at the time.

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