Chauncey Billups pleads not guilty to Mafia-linked poker charges
chauncey-billups-not-guilty-mafia-poker-case
NEW YORK — Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups entered a not-guilty plea on Monday to federal counts of money-laundering conspiracy and wire-fraud conspiracy connected to allegedly rigged poker games bankrolled by organized-crime families.
The 49-year-old five-time NBA All-Star was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. Each charge carries a potential 20-year prison sentence. Billups has been free on bond since an initial appearance in Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 23, when prosecutors first announced the indictment.
Billups is among more than 30 defendants accused of manipulating high-stakes poker games in Manhattan, Las Vegas, Miami and the Hamptons beginning in at least 2019. Prosecutors say victims were cheated out of roughly $7 million through devices such as altered card-shuffling machines, hidden cameras in chip trays, specialized sunglasses and X-ray equipment embedded in tables.
According to the indictment, Billups acted as a celebrity draw, attracting wealthy players who were unaware the games were fixed. Investigators allege he received a share of the profits, including a $50,000 wire transfer after a 2020 game. Organizers purportedly split proceeds with members of the Gambino, Genovese and Bonanno crime families, who, prosecutors say, used violence and threats to collect debts.
Former NBA guard and assistant coach Damon Jones is charged in the same poker scheme. Jones and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier also face accusations in a separate insider-information sports-betting case unveiled simultaneously.
Defense attorney Chris Heywood called Billups “a man of integrity” and said the coach would never risk “his Hall of Fame legacy, his reputation and his freedom” over gambling.
Selected third overall by the Boston Celtics in the 1997 draft, Billups played 17 NBA seasons and earned approximately $106 million. He won the 2004 championship and Finals MVP honors with the Detroit Pistons, who later retired his No. 1 jersey. After retiring in 2014, he worked as a television analyst before joining the Trail Blazers as head coach in 2021. The team placed him on unpaid leave following his arrest and promoted assistant Tiago Splitter to interim coach.
The case’s next procedural steps are expected to be scheduled following Monday’s arraignments.
Source: ESPN
