NBA stars and the mafia: Who was arrested in the FBI gambling bust?

(NewsNation) — While Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier were the most notable arrests made in a massive federal indictment for illegal sports gambling and poker game rigging, several mafia groups were also implicated.

“The fraud is mind-boggling,” FBI Director Kash Patel said, emphasizing that the arrests are part of a yearslong 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.

La Cosa Nostra is a name for the alliance of several mafia organizations. In most places, organized crime is controlled by single criminal organizations, but five groups Patel named are known as the "Five Families," who share territory in New York.

Here are the people indicted in the FBI probe:

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was one of the biggest names charged in the alleged scheme. 

He was placed on leave by his team, the NBA announced. 

“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority,” the NBA said in a statement.

Billups, who was arrested in Oregon, is charged in a separate indictment alleging a wide-ranging scheme to rig underground poker games connected to the La Cosa Nostra crime families, authorities said.

Billups was a five-time All-Star with an NBA playing career that spanned 17 seasons, including a championship with Detroit in 2004. He was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame last year. He played for Boston, Detroit, Toronto, Denver, Minnesota, the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Clippers. 

He was in his fifth season as Portland’s coach, compiling a 117-212 record.

Prosecutors asked a judge to impose “substantial bail conditions” noting Billups’ “substantial financial resources.”

“As an NBA player from 1997 to 2013, his lifetime career earnings exceeded $100 million, and he currently has a multi-year contract to serve as the head coach of the Portland Trailblazers for an undisclosed salary,” the memo reads.

Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier

Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is accused of participating in an illegal sports betting scheme using private insider NBA information, according to officials. 

Rozier is also on leave from his team, the NBA announced.

He did not play in Miami’s season-opening loss to the Magic on Wednesday due to a coach’s decision and was arrested Thursday at a hotel in Orlando, Florida.

Rozier and other defendants “had access to private information known by NBA players or NBA coaches” that was likely to affect the outcome of games or players’ performances, and provided that information to other co-conspirators in exchange for either a flat fee or a share of betting profits," the indictment says.

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.

Other people connected to the NBA

Former NBA assistant coach Damon Jones was charged with participating in rigged poker games as well as an illegal sports betting scheme using private insider NBA information.

Jones has been coaching since at least 2014, after an 11-year NBA playing career. He was an unofficial assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2022-23 when he allegedly was involved with the sports betting scheme, according to the indictment.

The indictment also states that there are nine unnamed co-conspirators, including a Florida resident who was an NBA player, an Oregon resident who was an NBA player from about 1997 to 2014 and an NBA coach since at least 2021.

Former NBA player Jontay Porter is named among “other relevant individuals” in the indictment.

Gambino crime family

Defendants Lee Fama, Joseph Lanni and Angelo Ruggiero, Jr. were named in the indictment as members of the Gambino family, one of the most notorious mafia groups of New York.

The Gambino family’s name came from Carlo Gambino, who was the family’s boss from 1957 to his death in 1976, according to the New York Times. But the group’s most infamous boss was John Gotti. 

Gotti was involved with the mafia in narcotics trafficking and racketeering while establishing more legitimate businesses, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. 

He got the nickname “The Teflon Don” after he was acquitted of several crimes in 1987. His lawyers secured a not guilty verdict largely due to jury tampering and intimidation tactics orchestrated by the mob. 

But he was tried again for racketeering in 1992 after being charged with 13 counts, including murder, obstruction of justice, bribery and tax evasion. In that case, a jury convicted him on all counts, and he was sentenced to life in prison. 

The Bonanno crime family

At least three members or associates of the Bonanno crime family, including defendants Ernest Aiello and Julius Ziliani, were listed in the indictment. 

Several mafia members are alleged to have been a part of “cheating teams” that “used advanced wireless technologies to read the cards dealt in each poker hand and relay that information to the defendants and coconspirators participating in the illegal poker games,” according to the indictment. 

The Bonanno family is named for Joseph Bonanno, who was one of the longest-serving bosses in Mafia history, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica

Bonanno was in power for more than 30 years and was largely engaged in loan-sharking, gambling, narcotics, and prostitution, the outlet reported. 

In 1976, FBI agent Joseph Pistone, whose alias was “Donnie Brasco,” infiltrated the Bonanno family, going undercover for years. 

The films The Godfather and Donnie Brasco were based on the Bonanno family, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.

The Genovese crime family

Defendant Matthew Daddino, also known as “Matty” and “The Wrestler,” was named in the indictment as a member of the Genovese Crime Family of La Cosa Nostra. 

The Genovese family was originally known as the Luciano family, but changed its name with a new leader in the 1950s. 

In the 1990s, the family reportedly became especially powerful, aided, in part, by their caution and secrecy, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. The Genoveses made much of their money by trafficking narcotics through ports in which they controlled the workers’ unions.

Lucchese crime family

A defendant named Seth Trustman was implicated in the indictment as an associate of the Lucchese family, which was originally called the Gagliano family.  

The Luccheses controlled the trucking and garment industries in New York. They also wielded major influence over a number of labor unions and trade organizations, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.

In the 1980s, Vittorio Amuso took over as boss and continued to head the group even though he was convicted in 1992 on various charges and received a life sentence. 

The Associated Press and NewsNation's Taylor Delandro contributed to this story.