00:00Federal prosecutors and the FBI announced Thursday that dozens of people, including current and former NBA players and a coach, have been charged in two major investigations into an alleged sports betting ring and organized crime network.
00:15Among those arrested were Portland Trailblazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.
00:23Billups, a Hall of Famer, was arrested in Portland, while Rozier was taken into custody in Orlando.
00:30Both have been placed on leave as the NBA cooperates with authorities.
00:36One case involves players accused of sharing insider information or faking injuries to profit from sports bets.
00:43The other centers on illegal high-stakes poker games allegedly tied to organized crime.
00:49Former NBA player Damon Jones was charged in both cases.
00:54FBI Director Kash Patel said the arrests spanned 11 states and involved charges including wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, and illegal gambling, calling the takedown a major strike against NBA corruption and crime families like the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese groups.
01:15U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said the poker scheme used altered card-shuffling machines to predict winning hands, information that was secretly passed to players to cheat victims out of more than $7 million.
01:29In the sports betting case, Rozier and others allegedly used non-public injury and player availability info to place lucrative prop bets between 2022 and 2024.
01:43In one 2023 game, Rozier supposedly told an associate he'd leave early with a fake injury, leading to large winning bets.
01:54Damon Jones allegedly sold private injury details about a prominent NBA player, believed to be LeBron James.
02:02Rozier's lawyer denied wrongdoing, accusing prosecutors of seeking publicity.
02:07Billups, released after a brief court appearance, is accused of defrauding victims of over $50,000 in the poker scheme.
02:17Prosecutors say both cases involved laundering money through shell companies, crypto, and cash.
02:24Billups' attorney dismissed the allegations as absurd, saying he would never risk his Hall of Fame legacy for a card game.
02:32Officials said the investigation is ongoing, but does not involve college basketball.
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