Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, a former Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, entered a plea of not guilty on Monday to allegations of benefiting from manipulated poker games involving Mafia members and another ex-NBA player. Billups, a decorated athlete with five All-Star appearances and an NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons, faced charges of money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy in a Brooklyn federal court, each potentially carrying a 20-year prison sentence.
According to prosecutors, Billups was implicated in a scheme to fix illicit poker games supported by organized crime in various locations such as Manhattan, Las Vegas, Miami, and the Hamptons. Other individuals were accused of managing an unlawful gambling enterprise, planning robberies, and engaging in extortion schemes. While plea discussions have commenced with some defendants, their identities remain undisclosed.
U.S. District Court Judge Ramon Reyes aimed to expedite the case, setting a prospective trial date for next September and urging legal representatives to proceed efficiently. Billups, attired in a somber grey suit, limited his responses to simple affirmations during the court appearance, with his attorney, Marc Mukasey, entering the plea on his behalf. Both parties refrained from commenting after the session. Earlier, a legal representative for Billups emphasized his client’s integrity and denial of the charges, asserting that the allegations would jeopardize his esteemed legacy and personal freedom.
Having posted a $5 million bond secured by his family property in Colorado, Billups was released. The conditions of his release include a prohibition on gambling activities and contact with co-defendants or purported victims. Additionally, he surrendered his passport and is restricted to traveling within seven states, including Oregon, New York, and Washington, D.C.
Recognized for his basketball achievements, Billups was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last year, making him a prominent figure among the over 30 individuals implicated in a recent federal crackdown on illegal gambling networks connected to professional sports. Notably, former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones was also implicated in the poker scandal, along with a separate scheme involving insider information to manipulate NBA betting arrangements, which involved Miami Heat player Terry Rozier.
In conjunction with the arraignment, Billups and co-defendants participated in a status conference and are scheduled to reconvene on March 4. Prosecutors detailed the poker rigging operation, citing modified card-shuffling devices, concealed cameras in chip trays, specialized eyewear, and table-embedded X-ray devices for card reading. The alleged scheme purportedly defrauded victims of approximately $7 million starting in 2019.
Prosecutors alleged that Billups served as a celebrity lure to attract affluent but unsuspecting players to the rigged poker games, with organizers reportedly expressing a desire for one individual to lose money to Billups due to being star-struck. It was claimed that Billups received a share of the illicit proceeds, including a $50,000 wire transfer following a manipulated game in October 2020.
Additionally, organizers were purportedly obliged to share profits with the Gambino, Genovese, and Bonanno crime families for operating within the illicit poker network administrated by New York criminal factions. In return, Mafia members allegedly executed acts of violence, extortion, and theft to recover debts and safeguard the operation.
Having amassed an estimated $106 million during his NBA tenure, Billups transitioned to a television analyst role post-retirement before transitioning to coaching. His basketball legacy includes being the third overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, a title as NBA Finals MVP during the Pistons’ 2004 championship, and the retirement of his jersey by the Detroit franchise.
The Trail Blazers appointed Billups as head coach in 2021, extending his contract earlier this year despite the team failing to qualify for the playoffs in 2024, marking the fourth consecutive season without postseason participation. Following his arrest, Billups was placed on unpaid leave, and former NBA player and assistant coach Tiago Splitter was named interim coach for the Trail Blazers.