Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy at a Brooklyn federal courthouse on Monday morning. This course of action was anticipated, as the 2024 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and 2004 NBA Finals MVP has maintained his innocence since being arrested on Oct. 23 for his alleged involvement in rigged poker games .

Prosecutors say that Billups and other athletes used their fame to help the mafia lure unsuspecting victims to high-stakes games that included X-ray card tables and altered shuffling machines. Billups and Damon Jones, who pleaded not guilty to the same charges in addition to being indicted a related sports gambling case, are accused of knowingly aiding crime families i

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