FBI director reveals Billups and Rozier arrested in gambling investigation
FBI Director Kash Patel details an investigation that resulted in the arrest of more than 30 people in connection with an illegal gambling scheme.
- The FBI has arrested more than 30 people in the massive gambling scandal, including NBA players Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier.
- Billups was charged in connection with an illegal poker operation with ties to the Mafia.
- Rozier is accused of manipulating match performance to benefit illegal gambling.
The FBI has secured multiple indictments against more than 30 people for their alleged involvement in the explosive gambling scandal that rocked the NBA. Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones were all arrested as part of an investigation involving a large illegal gambling ring, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a press conference Thursday.
Billups is charged in connection with an illegal poker operation with ties to the Mafia, and Rozier is accused of manipulating performances during NBA games to benefit illegal gambling. Jones is one of three people charged in both counts, said Joseph Nocera Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
The NBA placed Billups and Rozier on “immediate administrative leave” after the charges were filed. Billups is scheduled to appear in a Portland courtroom Thursday afternoon. Here are the latest updates: We will update this story as new information becomes available.
One of the indictments concerns an alleged insider sports betting conspiracy. Six defendants have been charged, including current Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers player and coach Damon Jones.
From around December 2022 to around March 2024, Rozier, Jones and others allegedly tried to defraud people by placing bets based on insider information about NBA players and teams. Prosecutor Joseph Nocera Jr., who spoke at the news conference, said the nonpublic information included when players would miss future games or withdraw early based on suspected injuries or illnesses.
The second indictment charges 31 defendants with conspiring to rig illegal poker games. The defendants include Chauncey Billups, the coach of the Portland Trail Blazers and former Detroit Pistons star, and Damon Jones, a former player and coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The defendants allegedly used high-tech fraud techniques to steal millions of dollars from victims in secret underground poker games. For example, Nocera said he was using an off-the-shelf shuffle machine that was modified to read the cards in a deck and relay information about which players had the best hand.
Nocera said the mafia was also involved in the plan. That’s because members of the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese organized crime families already controlled illegal, non-rigged poker games in New York City.
Charges in the scheme include wire fraud conspiracy, illegal gambling, money laundering, robbery and extortion, Nocera said.
Here’s what you need to know about Damon Jones, 49, one of a group of more than 30 people charged in the wide-ranging scandal. Jones is a former basketball player who played 11 seasons in the NBA before becoming an assistant coach.
Below is a complete list of the individuals included in the two indictments, along with their aliases.
The NBA has placed Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier on “immediate leave” after they were indicted in a widespread illegal gambling scheme involving more than 30 people, including ties to organized crime. The league said it “will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities.”
Former NBA player Damon Jones provided non-official information about the status of two players at an NBA game, according to charges laid out in a federal indictment Thursday related to a widespread gambling scandal announced by the FBI. Those players could have been LeBron James and Anthony Davis, based on public injury information reviewed by USA TODAY Sports from the game schedule. read more.
Watch the FBI press conference
Read both indictments in full, including Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier, Damon Jones and others.
The NBA released a statement following Thursday’s illegal gambling charges, announcing that Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups will be placed on immediate leave from their respective teams.
“We are reviewing the federal indictments announced today. Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups have been immediately suspended from the team and we will continue to cooperate with the appropriate authorities. We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of the game remains our top priority.”
U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocera Jr. detailed the massive illegal poker scheme with Mafia ties that led to Billups’ arrest at Thursday’s game. Already in 2019, the defendants in the case were accused of using wireless cheating technology to operate rigged poker games in areas including the Hamptons, Miami, Las Vegas and Manhattan.
The victims were lured to the game by the chance to play alongside former professional players such as Billups and Jones. Nocera said the former professional athletes were called “face cards” and the victims were called “fish.” Members of the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese organized crime families were also involved, allegedly taking part of the fraudulent poker games and forcing them to collect on the debts.
Nocera suggested that Billups is a former NBA player and was not the Trail Blazers coach at the time of his alleged involvement.
“What the victims didn’t know was that everyone else participating in the poker game, from the dealer to the players, including the face cards, was complicit in the fraud,” Nocera said. “Once the matches began, the defendants extorted the victims of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per match.”
Nocera said the alleged fraud involved an automatic shuffling machine that was “secretly modified to read the cards on the deck, predict which players on the table had the best poker hand, and relay that information to off-site operators.” “The off-site operator transmitted information back via cell phone to the co-conspirators at the table, who was known as the ‘quarterback.’ The ‘quarterback’ then secretly relayed the information he received to the others at the table, who together used the information to win the game and defraud the victim. ”
He also allegedly used a poker chip tray analyzer, special contact lenses or glasses that could read pre-marked cards, and an X-ray table that could read cards placed face down on a table.
“We are aware of the allegations regarding head coach Chauncey Billups and the Trail Blazers are fully cooperating with the investigation,” the team said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “Billups will be placed on administrative leave immediately and Tiago Splitter will assume the head coaching position on an interim basis. Further questions should be directed to the NBA.”
Attorney Jim Trusty, who is representing Terry Rozier in this case, sent a statement to USA TODAY Sports following his client’s arrest on Thursday.
“We have been representing Terry Rozier for over a year. A long time ago, we reached out to these prosecutors and told them they should have an open line of communication,” Trustee wrote. “They were treating Terry as a test subject, not a target, until they received a call at 6 a.m. this morning informing them that FBI agents were going to arrest Terry at his hotel. It’s unfortunate that they chose to photograph him instead of forcing him to turn himself in. They were hoping for the misplaced glory of shaming a professional athlete for misconduct. This tells us a lot about the motive behind this case. They seem to be taking their word for it admirably.” Look at the source rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing. Terry was acquitted by the NBA, and prosecutors reinstated the case. Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight and is looking forward to winning this fight. ”
FBI Director Kash Patel: “The fraud is mind-boggling. … We’re talking about fraud, theft and robbery of tens of millions of dollars over a multi-year investigation.”
U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocera Jr. He called the case involving Rozier “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since the widespread legalization of online sports betting in the United States. This scheme was an insider sports betting conspiracy that exploited confidential information about National Basketball Association players and teams.”
Nocera said the indictment that led to the arrests of Billups, Jones, and more than 30 people overall involved a “nationwide scheme to rig illegal poker games. These defendants… utilized high-tech fraud techniques to steal millions of dollars from victims of secretly modified underground poker games.”
Billups was arrested in Oregon on Thursday morning, a day after the team’s season-opening loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Rozier was also arrested Thursday morning at a hotel in Orlando, Fla., where the Heat lost their season opener to the Magic. Rozier did not participate in the game at the discretion of the coach. Billups, Rozier and Jones are scheduled to appear in court later Thursday, a Justice Department spokeswoman said.
Patel said the years-long investigation spanned 11 states, resulted in more than 30 arrests and implicated the Bonano, Gambino and Genovese organized crime families. Patel said the cases involving Billups and Jones focused on match-fixing poker games that took place across the United States, and that the schemes often targeted victims who were lured into participating by the opportunity to play alongside former professional athletes.
The indictment also includes acts of violence and extortion, including robbery at gunpoint to obtain a rigged shuffle machine. Justice Department officials said the defendants laundered the proceeds through cash exchanges, the use of multiple shell companies and virtual currency transfers.
The focus of attention on Rozier is the game between the Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans, which will take place on March 23, 2023. Sportsbooks in several states warned of unusual betting activity on Rozier’s statistics, causing a suspension of his prop bets. Rozier, who averaged 35.3 minutes and 21.1 points per game that season, was sidelined after just 10 minutes with a foot injury.
Justice Department officials claimed Thursday that more than $200,000 was bet on Rozier’s “under” on the game.
Rozier’s attorney previously told ESPN that the veteran guard met with the NBA and FBI several times in 2023, and the league determined Rozier did nothing wrong.
The case is part of a large-scale sports gambling scheme that already involves former Raptors forward Jontay Porter.
Who is Chauncey Billups?
Chauncey Billups, 49, was one game into his fifth season as a coach in Portland after he was sidelined during the Trail Blazers’ 118-114 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2025 NBA season opener on Wednesday. His overall record was 117 wins and 212 losses. After a 17-year playing career that included an NBA Finals MVP and championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004, he will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.
Who is Terry Rozier?
Rozier, 31, was traded from the Hornets to the Heat in January 2024. He is currently in the final season of a four-year, $96.3 million contract with Charlotte that begins in 2021.
This is a developing story. USA TODAY Sports will update details.
