These guys are outta bounds.
Three NBA stars, including Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups, have been charged in a pair of sweeping and “historic” federal gambling busts — one of which allegedly implicates four of the five Mafia families, and the other involves bets placed on LeBron James and four NBA teams.
The mob is accused of paying Billups and former NBA player Damon Jones, 49, to act as “face cards” to attract high rollers to big-money poker games that were fixed using sophisticated cheating tech, including rigged X-ray card tables, card shufflers and special glasses and contact lenses, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday in Brooklyn federal court.
Chauncey Billups has been charged in an alleged illegal poker scheme tied to organized crime, sources say. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier (bottom), also known as “Scary Terry,” was charged as well, in a separate but related illegal gambling case, according to reports. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The indictment named a slew of mob associates who have previously made headlines — including Thomas “Tommy Juice” Gelardo, who allegedly collected gambling debts with threats and intimidation, and Nicholas “Fat Nick” Minucci, a Gambino associate who was convicted of beating a black kid with a baseball bat while shouting the N-word in 2005.
The other indictment involves an illegal sports gambling ring that placed bets on games using insider information about the Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors, Charlotte Hornets and Portland Trail Blazers and their players.
While Billups is not charged in the second indictment, he appears to be identified as “Co-Conspirator 8” in that case for allegedly leaking secret information to gamblers that the Portland Trail Blazers were planning to tank a March 24, 2023, game against the Chicago Bulls – a tip-off that netted the bettors big winnings, the court papers claim.
Billups, who made $106 million as a player and earned $4.7 million coaching the Blazers, was arrested in Oregon Thursday morning — the night after coaching his team’s season opener.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, aka “Scary Terry,” and ex-Cleveland Cavaliers player Jones were both charged with allegedly doling out insider info on teams and players for bets on games, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella said.
A total of 31 people across the country are charged with running rigged games, which took place in Manhattan, the Hamptons and Las Vegas, sources said. EDNY
The players involved were being paid by mobsters to play in card games fixed with technology and card shuffling machines to give the house the advantage, according to sources. EDNY
The image above shows an X-ray table from one of the defendant’s iCloud accounts, according to reports. EDNY
Rozier made $25 million from the Heat last season and has career earnings of $135 million. Jones made $22 million in his 11 seasons in the league.
A total of 31 people across the country are charged in the rigged poker games scheme, with games held in Manhattan, the Hamptons, Miami and Las Vegas, the US attorney said.
The conspiracies spanned years, netted more than $7 million in illegal profits and involved the four major New York crime families — including the Bonannos, Genoveses, Luccheses and Gambinos, officials claimed.
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“We are here in New York to announce a historic arrest that envelopes the NBA and La Cosa Nostra,” FBI Director Kash Patel said at the press conference.
“The fraud is mind-boggling,” he added.
The poker-rigging indictment alleges that, starting in 2019, the Mafia began fixing poker games that sought to attract “fish” (victims) with the promise that they could play alongside “face cards” (NBA stars) used to get the marks to blow money on bets that they unwittingly had no chance of winning, the prosecutor alleged.
Surveillance photo of defendants Ziliani and Fama talking together at Sally’s Bar on October 4, 2023, according to reports. EDNY
Collage of three surveillance photos showing defendants Hoti, Trustman, Zhen Hu, and Becher near 147 Lexington Ave., according to the indictment. EDNY
A DeckMate 2 shuffler taken apart on a table. EDNY
“What the victims, the fish, didn’t know is that everybody else at the poker game, from the dealers, to the players, including the face cards, were in on the scheme,” Nocella said.
The former athletes involved were being paid by gangsters to partake in card games fixed with tech, including rigged card shuffling machines, poker trays with hidden cameras, tables equipped with x-ray machines and special contact lenses and glasses for reading pre-marked cards to give the house the advantage, officials alleged.
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The athletes were told to take a dive when they had to and win at other times, prosecutors allege.
A team of planted players would con a victim by communicating with each other mid-game with secret signals and in text messages to ensure their side won and the unwitting player lost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, court papers allege.
Indictment papers listing defendants, including Chauncey Billups, in an illegal sports gambling scheme. Getty Images
(From left) Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavalier Damon Jones. AP
In one instance, a victim was fleeced out of $1.8 million during a fixed poker game in Manhattan, court documents claim.
The player who sent out signals to the others about who had the best hand at the table was dubbed a “quarterback” or “driver.” Signals included touching their chin or arm or touching a certain color of chips, the filing says.
The scammers admitted in a text chain with each other how one victim seemed willing to lose big to Billups, court papers allege.
Also named in the sweeping case is reputed gangster Thomas “Tommy” Gelardo. Steven Hirsch
“The one guy at the end acted like he wanted Chauncey to have his money!” defendant Robert Stroud wrote to his crew in an April 9, 2019 text. “He was star struck!”
Because players didn’t have to put up money upfront, the defendants relied on the mobsters involved to rough-up, extort and threaten their victims to get them to cough up their debts, court papers alleged.
The alleged illegal poker ring is tied to criminal families such as the Bonanno (Ernest Aiello pictured above), Gambino and Genovese, officials say. David McGlynn
In the separate sports-betting scheme that spanned from December 2022 through March 2024, Rozier and Jones used insider information about the NBA, which they got through their connections and friendships, to place bets on games, officials claim.
The alleged tips mostly involved when star players would be benched or pulled out early because of an injury or illness. Their pals then placed hundreds of thousands of bets through online sports books and at casinos, officials alleged.
In one instance, the defendants used former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter’s prior gambling debts against him to force him to dish on insider info, prosecutors claim.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch speaks, flanked by US Attorney Joseph Nocella (left) and FBI Director Kash Patel, during a news conference to announce arrests tied to illegal sports betting and poker game schemes on October 23, 2025. AFP via Getty Images
Jones – who played for the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers – once leaked deets about LeBron James’ injury before a Feb. 9, 2023, game that the Laker legend missed and the team lost, according to an indictment and law enforcement sources.
Jones, an “unofficial assistant coach” for the Lakers, sent a message to one of his co-conspirators telling him to bet on the Lakers’ opponent, the Milwaukee Bucks, the indictment claims.
“Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out!” Jones texted, according to the indictment.
US Attorney Joseph Nocella speaks at a news conference as FBI Director Kash Patel listens. AFP via Getty Images
The defendants allegedly used straw bettors to place the maximum amount of bets to increase profits. Then they laundered the ill-gotten gains through shell companies, cryptocurrency, bank wires and cash exchanges, prosecutors claim.
US Attorney Nocella called the plot to place crooked bets on NBA games “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.”
The poker con indictment charged the defendants variously with wire fraud, operation of an illegal gambling business, money laundering conspiracy and extortion conspiracy.
The insider information-related indictment charges the defendants with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
Rozier had previously been under investigation for unusual betting activity during his time with the Hornets, specifically a March 2023 contest. However, the NBA did not find any violation.
Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, said his client met with NBA and FBI officials during 2023 regarding the case and slammed the manner in which he was taken into custody Thursday morning.
“A long time ago, we reached out to these prosecutors to tell them we should have an open line of communication. They characterized Terry as a subject, not a target, but at 6 a.m. this morning they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel,” Trusty told The Post.
“It is unfortunate that instead of allowing him to self-surrender, they opted for a photo op. 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,” he continued.
The FBI has arrested 31 people involved in a rigged poker game ring backed by the New York City organized crime families.
- Ernest Aiello — reputed Bonanno mobster
- Nelson “Spanish G” Alvarez
- Louis “Lou Ap” Apicella
- Ammar “Flapper Poker” Awawdeh
- Saul Becher — professional poker player
- Chauncey Billups — Portland Trail Blazers coach, NBA Hall of Famer and 2004 NBA champion
- Matthew “The Wrestler” Daddino
- Eric “Spooky” Earnest
- Lee Fama — professional poker player
- John Gallo
- Marco Garzon
- Thomas “Tommy Juice” Gelardo — reputed Lucchese mobster charged in 2013 for beating porn star girlfriend
- Jamie Gilet
- Tony “Black Tony” Goodson
- Kenny Han
- Shane “Sugar” Henne
- Osman “Albanian Bruce” Hoti
- Horatio Hu
- Zhen “Scruli” Hu
- Damon “Dee Jones” Jones — NBA player from 1998 to 2009
- Joseph Lanni
- John “John South” Mazzola
- Curtis Meeks
- Nicholas Minucci
- Michael Renzulli
- Anthony Ruggiero Jr.
- Anthony “Doc” Shnayderman
- Robert “Black Rob” Stroud
- Seth Trustman
- Sophia “Pookie” Wei
- Julius Ziliani
“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 attorney said.
The two indictments were the result of separate probes dubbed “Operation Nothing But Bet” and “Operation Zen Diagram,” authorities said.
The charges come less than a year after Porter pleaded guilty to tipping off gamblers to games he purposely was going to rig — and earning them $1 million — in an effort to clear his own gambling debt. The ex-Raptor was banned from the NBA for life.
Billups appeared in Oregon federal court Thursday where he was arrested, but he is scheduled to appear on Nov. 24 in Brooklyn federal court, which handled the case against Porter.
Magistrate Judge Jolie Russo agreed to allow Billups to go free on conditions including that he secures a substantial bond, the Oregonian reported.
Billups, a five-time All-Star, was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame last year.
Also named in the sweeping case is reputed gangster Tommy Gelardo and a slew of other alleged wiseguys.
“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority,” the NBA said in a statement.