Chauncey Billups (Team profile photo)

Beloved ex-Detroit Pistons star Chauncey Billups, aka "Mr. Big Shot," who has been head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers since 2021, has been charged in a federal investigation linked to a rigged illegal poker operation with ties to the New York Mafia, federal authorities announced Thursday at a press conference in New York.

Billups, 49, a Hall of Famer who was arrested Thursday in Portland, is scheduled to make his initial appearance later in the day in federal court on one count of wire fraud conspiracy and four counts of money laundering conspiracy. The indictment was filed Oct. 9, but had been under seal until now.

Billups is expected to remain free pending the outcome of the case.

KATU-TV in Portland reports that the NBA has placed Billup

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