How Chauncey Billups And Terry Rozier Ended Up In Illegal Sports Betting And Mafia-Backed Poker Rings

The NBA season is less than a week old, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation has already made sure this year is one to remember. No, the FBI isn't planning an expansion team to join the league's ranks, but it has been investigating two separate groups of criminal activities and has now arrested 34 people across 11 states. The charges include wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery, and illegal gambling.

Those people include Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, former player Damon Jones, and Hall of Famer and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. According to the FBI, Billups was part of a poker ring allegedly backed by the Mafia that brought in more than $7 million over six years. Meanwhile, Rozier subbed himself out of a game allegedly to influence gambling results, and Jones sold insider information about a player injury when he was an unofficial assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers.

FBI Director Kash Patel said "the fraud is mind-boggling" and that the schemes involved "tens of millions of dollars." U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr., of the Eastern District of New York, said the alleged activity was "one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States."

Here's a look at how the situations went down.

Chauncey Billups (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Federal agents called the first case "Operation Nothing But Bet." Prosecutors said six defendants were utilizing confidential information to run an insider sports betting scheme. In Rozier's case, investigators looked at a game on March 23, 2023. Rozier was on the Charlotte Hornets, who were playing the New Orleans Pelicans. Rozier allegedly told his childhood friend, Deniro Laster, that he was going to take himself out of the game early and cite an injury.

Rozier only played nine minutes and 34 seconds before he left the game. Laster had told other people about Rozier's plan, and the bets on "under" results earned thousands of dollars.

The defendants were accused of betting $200,000 on the unders. Rozier had a four-year, $96 million contract with the Hornets. He makes about $294,000 per game, which is significantly more than the bets won.

Prosecutors said the defendants had access to information that the general public wouldn't have known that could influence games. Another example they gave was Jones, then an unofficial coach with the Los Angeles Lakers, texting a co-conspirator to make "a big bet on Milwaukee" before the Lakers played the Bucks. Later that night,  LeBron James was ruled out with a sore left ankle and foot.

In the other case, called "Operation Royal Flush," prosecutors say 31 defendants were rigging underground poker games. Billups was one of the "Face Cards" of the operation, running high-tech equipment such as poker trip trays that used a hidden camera, X-ray tables, and special contact lenses, all that could read cards of other players.

The games were backed by four of the "Five Families" that have controlled organized crime across New York, prosecutors say.

Billups made close to $107 million across 17 seasons as a player in the NBA. He's making about $4.7 million per year with the Trail Blazers.

Lawyers for Rozier and Billups have both professed their clients' innocence. Rozier's attorney, Jim Trusty, noted how the NBA investigated Rozier and found no wrongdoing, yet the FBI "opted for a photo-op" instead of allowing Rozier to surrender on his own.

Billups's attorney, Chris Heywood, said his client wouldn't "risk his Hall of Fame legacy, his reputation, and his freedom…for anything, let alone a card game."

The NBA put out a statement saying it was "in the process of reviewing the federal indictments" and would place Rozier and Billups on immediate leave.

Despite the league's embrace of gambling, this news seems to have caught the NBA off guard. Billups coached for the Trail Blazers Wednesday night. Rozier was also on the bench with the Heat that same evening. We'll see how things unfold in court—this could wind up being just the tip of the iceberg.