Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, a former Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, entered a plea of not guilty on Monday to charges related to allegedly profiting from manipulated poker games involving Mafia members and a former NBA player. Billups, a five-time NBA All-Star and titleholder with the Detroit Pistons, faced arraignment in a federal court in Brooklyn on accusations of money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy, each carrying a maximum prison term of 20 years.
According to prosecutors, Billups was allegedly part of a plot to fix illegal poker games supported by organized crime in various locations, including Manhattan, Las Vegas, Miami, and the Hamptons. Other individuals were charged with offenses such as running illicit gambling operations, planning robberies, and extortion. The prosecution disclosed that plea discussions have commenced with certain defendants but did not disclose their identities.
During the court session, U.S. District Court Judge Ramon Reyes expressed his intention to expedite the case, aiming for a trial by the next September, urging the legal teams to proceed promptly. Billups, attired in a dark grey suit, only responded to direct questions from the judge with yes or no answers. His attorney, Marc Mukasey, entered the plea, and both parties refrained from providing comments post-hearing. Last month, another attorney representing Billups emphasized his client’s integrity and denial of the allegations.
Billups, aged 49, was released on a $5 million bond secured by his family’s property in Colorado. As part of the bond conditions, he must abstain from gambling, avoid contact with co-defendants or purported victims, surrender his passport, and limit travel to seven states, including Oregon, New York, and Washington, D.C.
Having been honored with induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in the previous year, Billups stood out as one of the key figures among over 30 individuals charged in the recent federal crackdown on illegal gambling networks connected to professional sports.
Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones also faced charges in the poker scam, alongside another separate scheme involving insider information exploitation in NBA betting that implicated Miami Heat player Terry Rozier.
The alleged poker-rigging operation, as per prosecutors, utilized modified card-shuffling devices, concealed cameras within chip trays, specialized eyewear, and table-embedded X-ray apparatus for card scanning. The scheme, ongoing since at least 2019, purportedly defrauded victims of an estimated $7 million.
Additionally, prosecutors claimed that Billups functioned as a high-profile attraction for the games, leveraging his celebrity status to entice affluent and unsuspecting participants. Organizers reportedly shared a portion of the illicit profits with Billups, including a $50,000 wire transfer following a rigged game in October 2020.
The organizers allegedly coordinated with the Gambino, Genovese, and Bonanno crime families, providing them a share of the earnings for conducting operations within the illicit poker games managed by New York-based criminal entities. Subsequently, the Mafia members reportedly carried out acts of assault, extortion, and robbery to enforce debt collection and protect the operation.
In his NBA tenure, Billups amassed approximately $106 million before retiring in 2014 and transitioning to a career as a television analyst before venturing into coaching.
Billups, chosen as the third overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics following a successful collegiate stint with the Colorado Buffaloes, enjoyed a 17-year NBA career with various teams. Revered in Detroit as “Mr. Big Shot” for his clutch performances, Billups claimed the NBA Finals MVP accolade during the Pistons’ championship triumph in 2004, leading to the retirement of his jersey number by the team.
Following his arrest, Billups was placed on unpaid leave, prompting the Trail Blazers to appoint former NBA player and assistant coach Tiago Splitter as the interim head coach.
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