FBI arrests NBA hoopsters, alleges mafia gambling ring

Federal authorities arrested more than 30 people Thursday as FBI Director Kash Patel alleged that a criminal sports betting enterprise involved the NBA and the Italian mafia. The enterprise spanned 11 states and, for several years, focused on an illegal gambling and sports rigging operation, Patel said Thursday morning. The illegal activity fraudulently produced tens of millions of dollars, Patel said. Some of the high-profile defendants included Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, former NBA player and Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Damon Jones, and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. They are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The NBA did not immediately comment on the charges on Thursday.

What kind of illegal enterprise are we talking about? The investigation yielded indictments in two separate cases involving fraud:

• One indictment involves 31 defendants who allegedly participated in a nationwide illegal scheme to rig poker games using high-tech cheating devices. Those games were allegedly backed by the Lucchese, Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese crime families associated with La Casa Nostra, the Italian mafia.

• Another indictment involved six defendants who participated in a brazen sports corruption scheme, according to U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella. Confidential insider information about basketball teams and players was used to illegally inform sports bets on individual players’ performance, he said. The information allegedly included when specific players would sit out future games and other confidential factors that would affect a team’s future performance. To obtain that information, defendants would rely on corrupt coaches and players, as well as confidential information obtained through longstanding friendships, according to Nocella. In at least one case, confidential information was obtained by threatening a current NBA player over preexisting gambling debts. All of the defendants in this case are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

What kind of high-tech devices were used for the card games? The poker games took place in the Hamptons, Las Vegas, Miami, and Manhattan. The defendants are accused of targeting victims, referred to as “fish,” who were lured to play in the rigged games on promises of playing alongside former professional athletes, referred to as “facecards.” Everyone at the poker game, including the dealer, was in on the scam, except the victims, according to Nocella. The defendants allegedly used off-the-shelf shuffling machines altered to read each poker card, predict which player had the best hand, and relay that information to an off-site operator who would message a person at the table designated “the quarterback.” That person would transmit the info to the other schemers at the table who used it to win the game, Nocella said. The defendants also used other devices, including altered poker chip tray analyzers, special contact lenses or eyeglasses that could read pre-marked cards, and an X-ray table that could read face-down cards, he said. The defendants in this case face charges including wire fraud conspiracy, illegal gambling, money laundering, and extortion. 

Dig deeper: Read Ray Hacke’s report on gambling scandals hovering over college and pro basketball.