Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, and former NBA star Damon Jones are three of thirty-one people charged on Thursday for allegedly turning professional basketball into what authorities describe as a criminal gambling operation that used inside information to place illegal bets.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced the charges at a news conference in New York City, joined by other law enforcement officials. Patel called the arrests “historic,” and said that it involved the NBA and the organized crime group, La Cosa Nostra.
Patel added: “This is an illegal gambling operation and sports rigging operation that spanned the course of years. The FBI led a coordinated takedown across 11 states to arrest over 30 individuals today responsible for this case, which is very much ongoing.
“But we also entered and executed a system of justice against La Cosa Nostra, to include the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese crime families.
“The charges and arrests that were taken down across this country range from wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery, and illegal gambling. This FBI will leave no room for any perpetrating of crime across this country.”
BREAKING — The Department of Justice is finally announcing something this morning, at 10a ET, that @pablofindsout has long been anticipating: “numerous arrests in illegal sports betting and poker games schemes.” (A lot more to come.) pic.twitter.com/qwdjt5dfbB
— Pablo Torre (@PabloTorre) October 23, 2025
Indictments against Rozier, Billups, and Jones
US Attorney Joseph Nocella announced indictments in two major fraud cases, one tied to sports betting and the other involving illegal gambling through rigged poker games. The intended losses were said to be valued at millions of dollars.
In the first case, Nocella said six defendants are accused of taking part in what he described as “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized.” According to him, the group allegedly used confidential information about NBA players and teams to gain an unfair edge.
The second case, Nocella said, targets 31 defendants who are accused of rigging underground poker games and stealing millions of dollars, operations that were allegedly backed by organized crime families from La Cosa Nostra.
He added: “These defendants, which involves former professional athletes, used high-tech cheating technology to steal millions of dollars from victims in underground poker games, that were secretly fixed.”
He named former Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jones, Eric Earnest, and Shane Hennen in both cases. Nocella also stated that Marves Fairley and Deniro Laster had been indicted.
Nocella said the whole illegal gambling scheme kicked off in 2019. According to him, the defendants ran the poker games from the Hamptons to Las Vegas, Miami, and Manhattan.
He explained that the victims, known as “fish,” were drawn into these games with the promise of playing alongside former pro athletes, the so-called “face cards,” like Billups and Jones.
Nocella added that the NBA was cooperating with their investigation.
Terry Rozier, Chauncey Billups, and Damon Jones arrested by FBI
According to ESPN, Rozier was taken into custody Thursday morning (October 23) at a hotel in Orlando, Florida. The arrest came just hours after the Heat lost to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night, a game in which Rozier did not play because of what was described as a coach’s decision.
Reports say Billups’ arrest isn’t connected to any games he coached. He was on the sidelines Wednesday for the team’s season-opening loss to the Timberwolves.
Sportsbooks in several states had flagged unusual betting activity on Rozier’s stats ahead of a Charlotte Hornets–New Orleans Pelicans game back on March 23, 2023. There was an unexpected rush of wagers – 30 bets placed within 46 minutes by one professional bettor totaling $13,759 – on the “under” for Rozier’s points, rebounds, and assists. The betting surge was so sharp that sportsbooks stopped taking bets on him entirely. During that game, Rozier, then with the Hornets, played only ten minutes before leaving with what he said was a foot injury.
Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, told ESPN that his client had already met with both NBA and FBI officials several times in 2023. According to Trusty, “the initial investigation determined that he had done nothing wrong.” The NBA also said it had reviewed the matter at the time and found no violations of league rules.
Speaking about Rozier, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated: “As the NBA season tips off, his career is already benched. Not for injury, but for integrity.”
NBA places Rozier and Billups on immediate leave
The NBA has released a statement saying that it was “in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today.
“Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities.
“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”
Rozier’s career earnings
Now 31 years old, Rozier is in the final year of a four-year, $96.3 million deal he signed with the Hornets in August 2021. That March 23, 2023, matchup ended up being his last game of the 2022–23 season before Charlotte traded him to the Miami Heat in January 2024.
Over his career, Rozier has earned about $160,484,983 as of the 2025 season. That includes roughly $89 million over a five-year span and about $36 million over a two-year period. His projected base salary for the 2025–26 season is $26,643,031.
This new case appears to be connected to the betting scandal involving former Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter. Porter was banned from the NBA in the spring of 2024 for taking part in a gambling scheme tied to player prop bets. He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and admitted in court that he intentionally manipulated his performance in two games during the 2023–24 season. Porter is scheduled to be sentenced in December.
Four men, including Jontay Porter, have already pleaded guilty in the case, while two others have been named as conspirators and are reportedly in plea negotiations, according to court filings.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver talked about the issue on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday, saying the league has been working closely with its sportsbook partners to stop any attempts at game manipulation.
“We’ve asked some of our partners to pull back some of the prop bets, especially when they’re on two-way players, guys who don’t have the same stake in the competition, where it’s too easy to manipulate something, which seems otherwise small and inconsequential to the overall score,” Silver said. “We’re trying to put in place, learning as we go and working with the betting companies, some additional control to prevent some of that manipulation.”
UPDATED: Reports of Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones’s arrest was also added on October 23, as well as the latest comments from the FBI and the US Attorney General. A statement from the NBA has also been included. This story will be updated.
Featured image: Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA / CC BY-SA 2.0
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