Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups is among those charged in an illegal poker operation tied to the Mafia, while Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is among several people charged in a separate but related illegal gambling case, authorities announced on Thursday.
The poker games, which included basketball players to lend credibility to their authenticity, were allegedly rigged in favor of those running the games, using advanced technology, such as rigged shuffling machines and even X-ray technology to read cards facing down on the table, U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.
The profits from the alleged poker scheme ran up to $7 million “and counting,” officials said. The investigation took place across two years, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups reacts during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Portland, Ore.
Jenny Kane/AP
Billups coached the Trail Blazers in their season opener on Wednesday night, a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Billups was also a Hall of Fame player, mostly for the Detroit Pistons, before retiring in 2014. He was a five-time All-Star in his 17 years in the NBA and led the Pistons to the NBA title in 2004, being named Finals MVP.
Christopher Raia, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, called it a “massive, nationwide takedown” of 34 defendants in connection with two separate sports betting and illegal poker schemes.
Among the defendants are current and former NBA coaches and players, authorities said, as well as 13 Mafia members and associates from the Bonano, Gambino and Genovese crime families.
Authorities described it as a “sprawling criminal enterprise” to “dupe unsuspecting gamblers.”
Meanwhile, in what officials described as an “overlapping” case tied to prop betting on NBA games, Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers player and assistant coach Damon Jones have been arrested.
Rozier and Jones allegedly passed inside information to four co-defendants, who are accused of passing the information to a network of sports bettors, sources said. Those bettors allegedly placed wagers with online sports books or retail betting outlets, which prohibit betting based on nonpublic information.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier drives to the basket as Memphis Grizzlies guard Javon Small defends during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Miami.
Marta Lavandier/AP
The indictment included an example from March 23, 2023, when Rozier — then playing for the Charlotte Hornets — allegedly tipped off a co-defendant that he planned to leave the game early with a purported injury, sources said. He left the game nine minutes in. A co-defendant and others allegedly placed $200,000 in wagers, betting Rozier would underperform his statistics.
Rozier is in his 11th year in the NBA. He’s appeared in 665 games and has averaged 13.9 points per game over 665 games played. He was a key contributor for the Boston Celtics on playoff runs in 2016-19 before joining the Hornets.
His team opened the 2025 season Wednesday night in Orlando, but Rozier did not play as he deals with a hamstring injury.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
