Former Celtics Among 34 Indicted In Mafia-Linked Sports Betting, Poker Schemes: DOJ (UPDATE)

By Chris Spiker From Daily Voice

A basketball hall-of-famer and a current NBA star were among dozens indicted in a massive scheme to rig sports bets and poker games, authorities said.

The Department of Justice announced the arrests in the case at a news conference in New York City on Thursday, Oct. 22. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier III, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, and retired NBA guard Damon Jones are among the 34 defendants in two overlapping cases.

Federal prosecutors said the trio took part in illegal sports betting or rigged poker games to help fund New York's most notorious crime families. According to FBI Director Kash Patel, the arrests spanned 11 states.

Joseph Nocella Jr., US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the case is one of the worst sports corruption schemes since online betting became widely legalized in the US after a 2018 Supreme Court ruling.

"Your winning streak has ended," Nocella said. "Your luck has run out. Violating the law is a losing proposition and you can bet on that."

The cases, named "Operation Nothing But Bet" and "Operation Royal Flush," targeted separate schemes that investigators say intersected through Billups, Jones, and Rozier. The schemes also involved the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese crime families.

Rozier didn't play in the Heat's season-opening loss to the Orlando Magic on the previous night due to a "coach's decision." The 31-year-old did take part in the Heat's final preseason game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, Oct. 17.

A native of the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, Ohio, Rozier was drafted 16th overall by the Boston Celtics in 2015 from the University of Louisville. Earning the nickname "Scary Terry," he gained national attention during the 2018 NBA Playoffs when he helped lead Boston to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Billups coached in the Blazers' season opener at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, Oct. 22. In his 17-year career, the five-time NBA All-Star nicknamed "Mr. Big Shot" was drafted third overall by the Celtics in 1997, led the Detroit Pistons to the 2004 championship, and played for the New York Knicks in 2011.

Jones was a member of 10 teams over 11 NBA seasons from 1999 to 2009, including the then-New Jersey Nets and the Boston Celtics. He won an NBA title as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.

Operation Nothing But Bet

According to prosecutors, the sports betting case centered on wagers placed using "nonpublic information" between December 2022 and March 2024. Bets were made through online sportsbooks and at casinos, including games featuring the Charlotte Hornets, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Blazers, and the Toronto Raptors.

New York police commissioner Jessica Tisch said Rozier discussed faking an injury hours before playing for the Hornets in a game on Thursday, Mar. 23, 2023. Groups placed more than $200,000 in bets on "unders" for prop bets, which are wagers placed on players' individual stats.

Rozier left the game at the New Orleans Pelicans after nine minutes. The prop bets cashed out and the group counted the winnings at Rozier's house.

The 31-year-old didn't play in the Heat's season-opening game in Orlando, where he was arrested at a hotel hours before the DOJ's news conference.

"As the NBA season tips off, his career is already benched,” Tisch said. "Not for injury, but integrity."

Rozier's attorney, Jim Trusty, previously told ESPN that Rozier met several times with NBA and FBI officials in 2023. Trusty said the league's initial investigation found no wrongdoing, while the NBA said at the time that it didn't find that any league rules were broken.

In a statement to NBC News, Trusty blasted the DOJ for how it arrested Rozier despite him being called a "subject" and not a "target" of the investigation.

"It is unfortunate that instead of allowing him to self-surrender, they opted for a photo-op," Trusty said. "They wanted the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk. That tells you a lot about the motivations in this case.

"They appear to be taking the word of spectacularly in-credible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing. Terry was cleared by the NBA, and these prosecutors revived that non-case. Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight."

The probe stems from the Jontay Porter gambling case, which led to the former Toronto Raptors center being banned from the NBA. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges earlier in 2025 after admitting to intentionally underperforming in two games during the 2023-24 season.

Porter faces sentencing in December, while several others remain in plea negotiations.

Operation Royal Flush

In the poker scheme, authorities said defendants hosted rigged high-stakes games in Manhattan, the Hamptons, Las Vegas, and Miami. High-profile players like Billups were called "face cards," who were used to lure wealthy victims known as "fish."

Investigators uncovered sophisticated cheating devices like altered shuffling machines to count cards and hidden cameras. The scheme even used an X-ray that could read face-down cards on poker tables, along with special contact lenses or eyeglasses that could detect marked cards.

Prosecutors said organized crime figures took a cut of winnings and enforced debt collections. The group used threats and violence, including a gunpoint robbery to obtain a rigged shuffling machine.

Christopher Raia, Assistant Director in Charge of the New York FBI office, said the schemes funneled "tens of millions of dollars" into La Cosa Nostra.

"This alleged scheme wreaked havoc across the nation, exploiting the notoriety of some and the wallets of many to fund the Italian crime families here in New York," said Raia.

Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Ricky Patel said poker victims were cheated out of more than $7 million. The defendants were also accused of using cash exchanges, shell companies, and cryptocurrency transfers to launder their money.

Poker defendants face conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges, while others were charged with illegal gambling, money laundering, extortion, and Hobbs Act robbery.

High-Stakes Investigation

The enormous case has raised questions about the integrity of sports, along with the ethics surrounding the growing partnerships between leagues and gambling companies. The arrests come one day after the NCAA approved a rule allowing college athletes and staff members to bet on professional sports starting on Saturday, Nov. 1.

Prosecutors said legal sportsbooks were victims in the case.

"If you're participating in a legal gambling industry, you've got nothing to worry about," Patel said. "If you're participating in illegal conduct, you've got everything to worry about and this case shows it."

During a recent appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league is tightening its oversight on betting markets.

"We've asked some of our partners to pull back some of the prop bets, especially when they're on two-way players, guys who don't have the same stake in the competition, where it's too easy to manipulate something, which seems otherwise small and inconsequential to the overall score," Silver said. "We're trying to put in place – learning as we go and working with the betting companies -- some additional control to prevent some of that manipulation."

The investigation into both cases remains ongoing.

Stay with Daily Voice for updates on this developing story.