NBA coach Billups, Heat's Rozier arrested in FBI gambling probe

(NewsNation) — Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were among more than 30 people arrested Thursday in connection with a federal probe into sports gambling and rigged poker games, authorities said.

Rozier, 31, is accused of participating in an illegal sports betting scheme using private insider NBA information, officials said. He was arrested on Thursday at a hotel in Orlando, Florida. He did not play in Miami’s season-opening loss to the Magic on Wednesday due to a coach's decision.

Billups, who was arrested in Oregon, is charged in a separate indictment alleging a wide-ranging scheme to rig underground poker games that Mafia families backed, authorities said.

The indictments are related to two cases, one involving sports betting and the second involving rigged poker games, U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.

In the first case, six defendants are accused of participating in an insider sports betting conspiracy that exploited confidential information about NBA athletes and teams, Nocella said. He called it “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.”

The second case involves 31 defendants in a nationwide scheme to rig illegal poker games, Nocella said.

The defendants include former professional athletes accused of using technology to steal millions of dollars from victims in underground poker games in the New York area that Mafia families backed, he said.

"The fraud is mind-boggling,” FBI Director Kash Patel said, emphasizing that the arrests are part of a years-long illegal gambling investigation that "envelops both the NBA and La Casa Nostra.”

“Not only did we crack into the fraud that these perpetrators committed on the grand stage of the NBA, but we also entered and executed a system of justice against La Cosa Nostra to include the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese and Luchese crime families,” Patel said.

Case involves tens of millions of dollars in fraud: Patel

Patel added that the charges and arrests range from "wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery, illegal gambling."

The exact charge or charges Billups and Rozier face were not immediately known.

Patel said the amount of money involved in the investigation includes "tens of millions of dollars in fraud, and theft and robbery."

“We will not allow this kind of illicit activity to happen, not only at the national sporting level, but also where it hides in La Cosa Nostra," he said. "When these two collided together, they perpetrated a fraud that is historic in terms of not just money, but the scheme and the deceit that they utilize to steal and swindle people for money, to include crypto fraud.”

Insider information used to place bets: US attorney

US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joe Nocella emphasized that the defendants exploited insider information to bet on NBA games.

“The non-public information included when specific players would be sitting out future games, or when they would pull themselves out early for purported injuries or illnesses,” he said.

Nocella noted that the case, in which Rozier is charged, used non-public information about NBA players and teams to perpetuate their schemes.

“They also misused information obtained through long-standing friendships that they had with NBA players and coaches, and in at least one instance, they got their information by threatening a current player – (Jontae) Porter – because of his preexisting gambling bets," he said.

He added that the bets were mainly placed "in the form of prop bets on individual player performance. The bets were placed through online sports books and also in person at casinos.”

Arraignments for Billups, Rozier set

The initial court appearances for Billups and Rozier are expected on Thursday in the areas in which they were arrested, Portland and Orlando, respectively, said John Marzulli, the public information officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. Marzulli didn't know what time they would happen.

Rozier was previously under investigation for unusual betting activity during his time with the Hornets, specifically a March 2023 contest. However, the NBA found no violation.

“In March 2023, the NBA was alerted to unusual betting activity related to Terry Rozier’s performance in a game between Charlotte and New Orleans,” NBA spokesperson Mike Bass said earlier this year.

Billups has coached since 2021, following a widely lauded 17-season playing career that culminated in the sport’s highest honor: enshrinement in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.