NBA Coach Billups & NBA Player Rozier, Charged In Illegal Poker Operation With The Mafia

Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier have been arrested as part of a pair of wide-ranging investigations related to illegal sports betting and rigged poker games backed by the Mafia, authorities announced Thursday. Billups and Rozier were among a total of 34 people arrested. The arrests were the result of a yearslong investigation covering 11 states and involving tens of millions of dollars, FBI director Kash Patel said. Patel and other law enforcement officials said the multiple charges involve four Mafia families and organized crime networks and “mind-boggling” amounts of fraud.

Advertisements

Rozier, who was arrested Thursday morning at a hotel in Orlando, Florida, is accused of participating in an illegal sports betting scheme using private insider NBA information. The Heat lost their season opener to the Magic on Wednesday, when Rozier did not play due to a coach’s decision. According to the indictment, Rozier and other defendants “had access to private information known by NBA players or NBA coaches” that was likely to affect the outcome of games or players’ performances and provided that information to other coconspirators in exchange for either a flat fee or a share of betting profits. U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. called it “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.” Billups, who was arrested in Oregon, is charged in a separate indictment alleging a wide-ranging scheme to rig underground poker games that were backed by Mafia families, authorities said. The defendants are accused of using technology to steal millions from victims in the New York area, Nocella said. Both Billups and Rozier are expected to make initial court appearances later Thursday in Oregon and Florida, respectively.

Source: ESPN