TITLE: Prosecutors plan plea deals for 12 defendants in rigged poker investigation
SLUG: prosecutors-plan-plea-deals-rigged-poker-investigation
CONTENT:
Federal prosecutors said Tuesday they intend to offer formal plea agreements to 12 of the 31 people charged in an alleged rigged poker ring that includes NBA Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and former player Damon Jones. In a brief filed with the court, the government added that it is “reasonably optimistic” about reaching deals with nine additional defendants before the case proceeds to trial.
All 31 defendants are scheduled to appear in federal court on Wednesday for a status conference.
The filing notes that, since the previous status hearing on Nov. 24, defense teams have examined the evidence under a court-ordered protective seal. Materials turned over include body-worn camera video, arrest records, data from seven electronic devices and Apple iCloud accounts, more than 100,000 pages of financial and phone records, upwards of 800 pages of surveillance photos, and pole-camera footage from 147 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, one of the locations where the games were allegedly fixed.
Prosecutors also produced roughly seven terabytes of electronic data seized during the October arrests, covering individual defendants’ devices and cloud accounts.
Billups, placed on unpaid administrative leave from his role as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers following his arrest, pleaded not guilty in November to money-laundering and wire-fraud charges. Sources told ESPN he has been living in the Denver area after posting $5 million bail.
Source: ESPN
