Portland Path Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Warmth guard Terry Rozier and former NBA participant Damon Jones had been arrested by the FBI on Thursday morning as a part of an intensive federal grand jury investigation into unlawful sports activities betting break up throughout two circumstances, sources inform CBS News.
Billups is one among greater than 30 folks being charged for allegedly participating in unlawful high-stakes poker video games that concerned sports activities coaches and had been operated by organized crime figures, whereas Rozier was arrested in reference to a sports activities betting ring involving present and former gamers, together with some who allegedly faked accidents, sources inform CBS Information.
Rozier is amongst six individuals who have been charged within the latter case, per ABC News.
FBI director Kash Patel and different federal officers are anticipated to announce the arrests — starting from unlawful sports activities betting to poker sport schemes — at 10 a.m. ET in New York.
Rozier was arrested at a resort in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday morning. The Warmth had been on the town taking part in the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, a sport wherein Rozier didn’t take part as a coach’s determination. Billups was arrested in Portland, Oregon, because the Blazers are between house video games.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, showing Tuesday on “The Pat McAfee Present,” referred to as for extra laws to sports activities betting as a method of decreasing potential sport manipulation.
“We have requested a few of our companions to drag again a number of the prop bets, particularly once they’re on two-way gamers, guys who haven’t got the identical stake within the competitors, the place it is too simple to govern one thing, which appears in any other case small and inconsequential to the general rating,” stated Silver, who was the primary main sports activities commissioner in the USA to help sports activities betting laws. “We’re attempting to place in place — studying as we go and dealing with the betting corporations — some further management to forestall a few of that manipulation.”
Sportsbooks in a number of states flagged uncommon in betting exercise in relation to Rozier’s statistical props previous to a sport between the Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Hornets on March 23, 2023. Within the span of 46 minutes, there have been 30 wagers from knowledgeable sports activities bettor that totaled $13,759 on the underneath for Rozier’s factors, rebounds and assists, which brought about a number of sportsbooks to shut down prop betting on his statistics.
Rozier, who was on the Hornets on the time, performed simply 10 minutes earlier than leaving the competition as a consequence of a foot harm.
Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, beforehand instructed ESPN that Rozier met with FBI and NBA officers on a number of events in 2023 when the preliminary investigation started. Rozier maintained his innocence in relation to the case, beforehand getting cleared by the NBA..
“The league performed an investigation and didn’t discover a violation of NBA guidelines,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass stated in January 2025. “We at the moment are conscious of an investigation by the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Jap District of New York associated to this matter and have been cooperating with that investigation.”
The FBI and NBA had been trying into former Toronto Raptors middle Jontay Porter, who was banned from the NBA in 2024 for his position in a sports activities betting scandal centered on his prop bets. Porter ended up pleading responsible to conspiracy expenses; he’s at the moment awaiting sentencing.
Porter and three different males have since pleaded responsible within the case.
Rozier by no means performed for the Hornets once more following that 2023 sport; he was traded that season to the Warmth in January 2024. The next season, he averaged 10.6 factors, 3.7 rebounds and a pair of.6 assists in 64 video games with Miami.
