The most recent mafia bust is straight out of a Scorsese flick.
Federal agents say four of New York’s most notorious crime families were behind a two-year illegal gambling operation that infiltrated the NBA, leading to the arrests of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups.
Officials say the probe was a joint strike against intertwined criminal networks: one which was built around rigging underground poker games and the other using inside NBA information to place sports bets. The FBI says the schemes netted more than $7 million in profit between 2022 and 2024.
Thirteen members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese crime families were charged alongside 21 others, including current and former players, coaches, and middlemen who prosecutors say acted as middlemen for the mob and betting syndicates.
Prosecutors say mob crews ran underground poker games from Manhattan to Miami, using rigged shuffling machines and X-ray card readers to cheat wealthy guests out of large sums of money. NBA players were allegedly brought in as lures to lend legitimacy to the games.
When victims refused to pay, the mob reverted to traditional enforcement methods, including threats of violence, according to the NYPD.
In another case, investigators allege Terry Rozier helped co-conspirators cash in on insider bets. Court filings say he faked a head injury during a 2023 game while playing for the Charlotte Hornets, allowing those with inside knowledge to profit by betting his performance would fall below his averages. Those bets hit big, generating tens of thousands in profit, officials said.
Rozier’s lawyer said his client was wrongly targeted and plans to fight the charges.
Billups, a former NBA champion with the Pistons in 2004, Hall of Famer and current Portland head coach, is accused of participating in the poker ring. Prosecutors said the games were part of a broader mob-run network of gambling operations that reached from private Hamptons estates to casinos in Las Vegas.
Both Rozier and Billups were placed on immediate leave following the indictments. The league said it is cooperating fully with federal authorities and reviewing the cases.
“The integrity of the game is paramount to NBA players, but so is the presumption of innocence, and both are hindered when player popularity is misused to gain attention. We will ensure our members are protected and afforded their due process rights through this process,” a NBA Players Association spokesperson said.
Officials dubbed the case Operation Nothing But Bet, calling it one of the most significant organized crime takedowns in professional sports history. The investigation exposed a modern evolution of age-old Mafia tactics.
Rozier, 31, is in his 11th NBA season. Billups, 48, played 17 years in the league before coaching in Portland. Both men face federal fraud and conspiracy charges.
Authorities say the investigation is ongoing, and additional arrests are likely as they trace money flowing through offshore accounts and encrypted betting apps tied to the four families.
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.