Rozier, Billups is accused in a mafia-backed poker scheme

Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey BillupsHe was a player for the Timberwolves and a guard for the Miami Heat Terry Rozier More than 30 people have been charged in connection with schemes involving illegal sports betting and rigged poker games backed by the Mafia, authorities said Thursday.

Rozier is accused of participating in an illegal sports betting scheme using private information from the NBA, officials said. Billups is charged in a separate indictment alleging a widespread scheme to rig underground poker games backed by Mafia families, authorities said.

US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr., in a press conference with FBI Director Kash Patel, said the indictments relate to two main cases, one related to sports betting and the second related to rigged poker games. In the first case, six defendants were charged with participating in an insider sports betting conspiracy that exploited confidential information about NBA athletes and teams, Nocella said, calling it “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legal in the United States.”

The second case involves 31 defendants in a nationwide scheme to rig illegal poker games, Nocella said. He said the defendants included former professional athletes accused of using the technology to steal millions of dollars from victims in underground poker games in the New York area that were supported by mafia families.

Accusing athletes of leaving matches early

In the sports betting system, players sometimes change their performance or take themselves out of games early, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. In one case, Rozier, while playing for the Hornets, told others he was planning to leave a game early due to a “supposed injury,” Tesch said, allowing others to place bets that netted thousands of dollars.

The indictment against Rozier and others says there are nine unnamed co-conspirators, including a Florida resident who was an NBA player and an Oregon resident who was an NBA player from approximately 1997 to 2014 and an NBA coach since at least 2021, as well as a relative of Rozier.

The indictment says Rozier and the other defendants “gained access to private information known to NBA players or coaches” that could potentially affect the results of games or players’ performance and provided that information to other co-conspirators in exchange for a flat fee or a share of betting profits.

The NBA investigated

The NBA, which has previously investigated Rozier, had no immediate comment.

Rozier was wearing a military uniform The heat worked the magic in Orlando, Fla., in both teams’ season opener on Wednesday night, though he did not play in the game. He was taken into custody in Orlando early Thursday morning. The team did not immediately comment on the arrest.

A message was left with Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, on Thursday. Trusty previously told ESPN that Rozier was told that a preliminary investigation found he did nothing wrong after he met with NBA and FBI officials in 2023, the sports network reported.

A message seeking comment was left with Billups Thursday morning.

The case was brought by the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, which previously prosecuted former NBA player Jontay Porter. Former Toronto Raptors center plead guilty Accusations that he pulled out early from matches, claiming illness or injury, so that those in the know could make big gains by betting on him to perform below expectations.

Billups was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year. The five-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA point guard led the Detroit Pistons to their third league title in 2004 as the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. Boston drafted the former Colorado star with the No. 3 overall pick in 1997. The player known as Mr. Big Shot also played for Toronto, Denver, Minnesota, the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Clippers. Billups won the Joe Dumars Award, the NBA’s sportsmanship award, in 2009 while playing for his hometown Denver Nuggets.

Billups, 49, is in his fifth season as Portland’s coach, compiling a record of 117-212. The Trail Blazers open the season Wednesday night at home with And a 118-114 loss to Minnesota.

A questionable matchup with Rozier was played on March 23, 2023, in a game between the Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans. Rozier played the first 9 minutes and 36 seconds of that game, and not only did he not return that night with a foot issue, but he did not play again that season. Charlotte had eight games remaining and was not in playoff contention, so it was not particularly unusual for Rozier to be shut down in the final games of the season.

In the March 23 game, Rozier finished with five points, four rebounds and two assists in that opening period — a productive quarter but well below his usual production totals in a full game.

Posts still online as of March 23, 2023, show that some bettors were angry at sportsbooks that evening when it became clear that Rozier would not return for the Charlotte-New Orleans game after the first quarter, with many of them taking to social media to say something “suspicious” had happened regarding prop bets involving his stats that night.

A prop is a type of bet that allows gamblers to bet on whether a player will exceed a certain statistical number, such as whether the player will finish over or under a certain total of points, rebounds, assists and more.