{"id":169243,"date":"2025-10-24T13:43:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T13:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/nba-gambling-arrests-miami-heats-terry-rozier-portland-trail-blazers-coach-chauncey-billups-among-over-30-indicted-in-fbi-investigations-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T13:43:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T13:43:51","slug":"nba-gambling-arrests-miami-heats-terry-rozier-portland-trail-blazers-coach-chauncey-billups-among-over-30-indicted-in-fbi-investigations-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/nba-gambling-arrests-miami-heats-terry-rozier-portland-trail-blazers-coach-chauncey-billups-among-over-30-indicted-in-fbi-investigations-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA gambling arrests: Miami Heat's Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups among over 30 indicted in FBI investigations – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Winning is typically a good thing for the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.
But six years ago, the scammers allegedly using Chauncey Billups as part of a sprawling criminal scheme to lure unsuspecting poker players to rigged tables believed he was winning far too much.
Billups was a \u201cFace Card,\u201d prosecutors said, a high-profile person who could help attract big-fish gamblers to ritzy card games in Manhattan, Las Vegas, Miami and the Hamptons. Billups, aided by equipment like a manipulated shuffling machine and an X-ray table<\/a>, played on the \u201cCheating Team.\u201d
In the middle of a game in Vegas in April 2019, the orchestrators of the plot realized they had a problem: Billups was winning too many improbable hands. The streak would surely draw suspicion, they said in text messages included in court documents unsealed Thursday. Billups needed to do something very few professional athletes enjoy: lose on purpose. That\u2019s the only way the criminal enterprise could keep raking in cash.
It ultimately netted more than $7 million over six years.
Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and dozens of others were charged Thursday as part of two sweeping investigations: one into illegal sports gambling and the other into poker rigging schemes allegedly backed by the Mafia.
The extraordinary federal takedown led to the arrests of more than 30 people across 11 states on charges including wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery and illegal gambling, FBI Director Kash Patel said at a news conference.
\u201cThe fraud is mind-boggling,\u201d Patel told reporters, referring to the alleged wrongdoing as a \u201ccriminal enterprise that envelops both the NBA and La Cosa Nostra.\u201d He said the schemes involved \u201ctens of millions of dollars\u201d in ill-gotten gains.
The web of alleged criminal activity was laid out in two federal indictments that read like plot summaries for Martin Scorsese crime epics. Officials say key roles were played in one case by members of the notorious Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese crime \u201cfamilies\u201d \u2014 as well as defendants with nicknames like \u201cThe Wrestler,\u201d \u201cJuice,\u201d \u201cBig Bruce\u201d and \u201cPookie.\u201d
The indictments threaten to create a reputational headache for both the NBA, one of the marquee professional sports leagues in the country, and the booming but increasingly scrutinized sports gambling industry. In a statement, the NBA said Billups and Rozier would be placed on \u201cimmediate leave.\u201d
In the first case, dubbed \u201cOperation Nothing But Bet\u201d by federal agents, prosecutors accuse six defendants of participating in an insider sports betting scheme that \u201cexploited confidential information\u201d about basketball players and teams, U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. of the Eastern District of New York told reporters at the news conference.
Nocella called that alleged conspiracy \u201cone of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.\u201d
Rozier was charged in that indictment. The former Charlotte Hornets player was arrested Thursday morning in Orlando, Florida, and he appeared in the city\u2019s federal courthouse later Thursday. The indictment says he was also known by the nicknames \u201cScary Terry\u201d and \u201cChum.\u201d
In the second case, dubbed \u201cOperation Royal Flush,\u201d prosecutors accuse 31 defendants of a plot to rig underground poker games. The suspects allegedly used high-tech cheating gadgets to steal millions of dollars from games backed by four of the \u201cFive Families\u201d that have long ruled organized crime in the New York area.
The high-tech equipment described by Nocella included poker chip trays that secretly read cards with a hidden camera, special contact lenses that can read pre-marked cards and an X-ray table that can read cards facing down.
Billups was charged in that indictment, along with former NBA player Damon Jones.
It was not immediately clear where Billups was arrested, but he appeared Thursday in court in Portland, Oregon, where he lives. He was released on conditions that include travel restrictions, no gambling activity, a no contact order and standard conditions regarding firearms, according to NBC affiliate KGW. Billups coached the Blazers on Wednesday night in Portland.
Jones was arrested in Las Vegas. It was not immediately clear whether Jones had an attorney; calls and text messages to a phone number believed to belong to him were not returned.
\u201cYour winning streak has ended,\u201d Nocella said at the news conference, addressing the defendants in the \u201cRoyal Flush\u201d case and appearing to enjoy the wordplay. \u201cYour luck has run out. Violating the law is a losing proposition, and you can bet on that.\u201d
Three of the defendants were allegedly involved in both cases, according to Christopher Raia, assistant director in charge of the FBI\u2019\u2019s New York field office.
The Charlotte Hornets were preparing to face off against the New Orleans Pelicans on March 23, 2023, and Terry Rozier had a plan. Rozier, at the time a starter for the Hornets, told Deniro Laster, a childhood friend, that he was going to \u201cprematurely remove himself from the game in the first quarter due to a supposed injury and not return to play further,\u201d prosecutors say.
Laster turned around and sold the tip about Rozier\u2019s intentions to other defendants and co-conspirators, giving them a chance to \u201cplace fraudulent wagers based on the non-public information,\u201d prosecutors say. Rozier was true to his word, they said, playing roughly nine minutes and 34 seconds before taking himself out of the game. The bets raked in thousands of dollars.
In their indictment, prosecutors accuse Rozier, Laster and four other defendants of participating in a \u201cscheme to defraud\u201d betting companies by \u201cproviding, obtaining and using non-public information relating to NBA games to place and cause others to place fraudulent sports wagers for profit, and to launder the proceeds thereof.\u201d
The defendants and some of their co-conspirators had \u201caccess to private information known by NBA players or NBA coaches\u201d that was likely to affect the outcomes of upcoming league games or certain players\u2019 performances on the court, prosecutors said. Rozier\u2019s choreographed exit from the Hornets\u2019 March 2023 game against the Pelicans was just one example of that information-sharing system at work, they said.
Jones allegedly sold information on a prominent NBA player\u2019s injury to bettors while he was an unofficial assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers in February 2023. He is said to have texted a co-conspirator that a certain player would be out when the Lakers faced the Milwaukee Bucks on Feb. 9, 2023. \u201cGet a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out,\u201d Jones said, according to the indictment.
When the game started that night, fans and viewers learned Lebron James was out with a sore left ankle and foot, according to a game recap from the time.
The dozens of men (and one woman) accused of rigging poker games across the country over the last half-decade can\u2019t be accused of using low-tech methods.
The defendants are said to have used \u201cRigged Shuffling Machines\u201d that were secretly altered to read the cards in a deck, predict which player at the table had the best hand and relay that valuable information via interstate wires to an off-site operator. The operator then communicated that information by cellphone to one of the cheaters, referred to as the \u201cQuarterback\u201d or the \u201cDriver,\u201d who used \u201csecret signaling\u201d with other scammers at the table.
But that wasn\u2019t the extent of the cheating system, according to prosecutors. The orchestrators also used electronic poker chip trays that could secretly read cards placed on the table, card analyzers with decoy cellphones that could surreptitiously detect which cards were on the table and playing cards with markers visible only to players wearing specifically designed contact lenses or sunglasses.
All that was in the service of what prosecutors characterized as a \u201ccomplex fraud scheme to rig, or cheat at, illegal poker games in the Eastern District of New York and throughout the United States,\u201d beginning in at least 2019. The suspects allegedly rigged card games at otherwise \u201cstraight tables\u201d at locations across New York City, as well as Las Vegas, Miami and the Hamptons.
The defendants did that with the help of organized crime families, who \u201cprovided support and protection for the games and collected owed debts from the games in exchange for a portion of the illegal gambling proceeds,\u201d according to the indictment. The victims, who were defrauded out of millions of dollars, had no idea they were playing against cheaters, it says.
Meanwhile, \u201cmembers and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese Crime Families used threats and intimidation to assure payment of debts from the Rigged Games and the \u2018square\u2019 illegal poker games organized\u201d by the defendants, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors estimate that the defendants caused losses to victims totaling at least $7 million.
Rozier\u2019s attorney said in a statement that he had \u201creached out to these prosecutors to tell them we should have an open line of communication.\u201d
\u201cThey characterized Terry as a subject, not a target, but at 6 a.m. this morning they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel,\u201d said the lawyer, Jim Trusty. \u201cIt is unfortunate that instead of allowing him to self-surrender, they opted for a photo-op.\u201d
\u201cThey wanted the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk. That tells you a lot about the motivations in this case,\u201d Trust added. \u201cThey appear to be taking the word of spectacularly in-credible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing. Terry was cleared by the NBA, and these prosecutors revived that non-case. Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight.\u201d
Billups’ attorney, Chris Heywood, said Billups will fight the charges and is not guilty of any wrongdoing. “Anyone who knows Chauncey Billups knows he is a man of integrity; men of integrity do not cheat and defraud others,” Heywood said.
“To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his hall-of-fame legacy, his reputation, and his freedom. He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game,” Heywood said.
“Furthermore, Chauncey Billups has never and would never gamble on basketball games, provide insider information, or sacrifice the trust of his team and the League, as it would tarnish the game he has devoted his entire life to,” Heywood added.
The Miami Heat did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a statement, the NBA said it was in the \u201cprocess of reviewing the federal indictments announced today. Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities. We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.\u201d
The Blazers said that the team was cooperating with the investigation and that Tiago Splitter will be the interim head coach.
Rozier, an Ohio native and 10-year NBA veteran, was picked 16th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2015 NBA draft after having played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals.
Billups has coached since 2021, following a widely lauded 17-season playing career that culminated in the sport\u2019s highest honor: enshrinement in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame last year.
He entered the NBA in 1997 as the third overall draft pick. By 2004, his clutch baskets and on-court leadership were vital to Detroit\u2019s NBA championship over the Lakers. The title run earned him the nickname \u201cMr. Big Shot\u201d and the honor of being named the NBA Finals MVP, and it transformed his career. From 2006 to 2010, Billups was voted an All-Star five times.
After he retired in 2014, Billups worked as an NBA analyst for ESPN. After one season as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers, he was hired by the Portland Trail Blazers in 2021.
Thursday\u2019s high-profile arrests come four months after another NBA star, Gilbert Arenas, was arrested and indicted<\/a> after the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the Central District of California alleged he was involved in helping operate illegal, high-stakes poker games out of a Los Angeles-area home he owned. Arenas has pleaded not guilty.
Investigations into gambling have extended to active NBA players in recent seasons, as well. Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors pleaded guilty<\/a> in federal court and was banned by the NBA for life<\/a> last year for violating the league\u2019s sports gambling rules, with the league alleging that he had bet on NBA games and disclosed confidential information about his own participation to bettors. He is set to be sentenced in December.
CORRECTION<\/strong> (Oct. 23, 2025, 4:25 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this article misstated the year Billups led the Pistons to a championship. It was 2004, not 2014.
Daniel Arkin is a national reporter at NBC News.
Jonathan Dienst is chief justice contributor for NBC News and chief investigative reporter for WNBC-TV in New York.
Tom Winter is NBC\u2019s National Law Enforcement and Intelligence Correspondent.
Chloe Atkins reports for the NBC News National Security and Law Unit, based in New York.
© 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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