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From fraud to extortion, what NBA stars and the mafia are accused of in stunning charges
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- From fraud to extortion, what NBA stars and the mafia are accused of in stunning charges
New charges against dozens of defendants , including former and current NBA coaches and players, include conspiring to commit fraud, money laundering, illegal gambling, and extortion.
Star names, including Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups , Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones, are caught up in the scandal, which alleges that various individuals participated in a "brazen" scheme of insider sports betting or "fleeced" victims of rigged illegal poker games. The Justice Department said at an Oct. 23 news conference that it has secured indictments in two separate cases, which allege that members of mafia families were involved.
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"The fraud is mind boggling," FBI Director Kash Patel said at the news conference. "We're talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud and theft and robbery across a multi-year investigation."
Here's a look at the announced charges:
Indictment No. 1: 'Brazen' insider sports betting
One indictment deals with an alleged insider sports-betting conspiracy. Six defendants are charged, including current Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers player and coach Damon Jones.
Rozier, Jones and others allegedly tried to defraud people from about December of 2022 to March of 2024 by betting based on insider information about NBA athletes and teams. The non-public information included when players would be sitting out future games or when they would pull themselves out early based on purported injuries or illnesses, according to prosecutor Joseph Nocella Jr., who spoke at the news conference.
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The defendants also allegedly misused information they got through long-standing friendships with NBA players and coaches.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier handles the ball during the second quarter against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., USA on Mar 31, 2025.
At least once, they allegedly got their information by threatening Jontay Porter , who was a Toronto Raptors player from 2023 until 2024, when he was banned by the NBA for violating gambling policies. Porter, who was previously charged with playing a role in the alleged scheme, was threatened because of his pre-existing gambling debt, according to Nocella.
The alleged setup is "one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States," Nocella said.
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The defendants are charged with conspiring to commit wire fraud and conspiring to commit money laundering.
Indictment No. 2: Rigged illegal poker games 'fleeced the victims'
The second indictment charges 31 defendants with scheming to rig illegal poker games. The defendants include Portland Trail Blazers coach and former Detroit Pistons star Chauncey Billups and former Cleveland Cavaliers player and coach Damon Jones.
Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach Chauncey Billups reacts during a time-out in the second quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center in San Francisco, California, USA on Oct 8, 2025.
The defendants allegedly used high-tech cheating technology to steal millions of dollars from victims in secretly-fixed underground poker games. For instance, Nocella said they used off-the-shelf shuffling machines that were altered to read the deck's cards and relay information about which player likely had the best hand.
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"The defendants fleeced the victims out of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per game," Nocella said.
This scheme also involved the mafia, according to Nocella. That was because members of the Bonano, Gambino and Genovese organized-crime families already had control over non-rigged, illegal poker games in New York City.
"As a result, they also became involved in the rigged poker games, helping to organize the games and taking a cut of the proceedings, and working to enforce the collection of debts," Nocella said.
Charges in this scheme include wire fraud conspiracy, illegal gambling, money laundering, robbery and extortions, according to Nocella.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: From fraud to extortion, a look at the charges in NBA and mafia cases
