NBA figures arrested in federal probe linking gambling and organized crime

More than 30 individuals, including NBA head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former NBA player Damon Jones, have been arrested as part of a sweeping federal investigation into alleged illegal gambling and “sports rigging” operations tied to multiple organized crime families, authorities announced Thursday.

The arrests were revealed at a press conference in Brooklyn by FBI Director Kash Patel, who described the operation as one of the largest criminal crackdowns involving professional sports and organized crime in recent memory.

“We are here in New York to announce a historic arrest across a wide, sweeping criminal enterprise that envelops both the NBA and La Cosa Nostra,” Patel said.

The coordinated investigation, carried out by the FBI and the New York Police Department’s Joint Organized Crime Task Force, has reportedly been developing for years before culminating in Thursday’s arrests.

Two interlinked schemes: sports betting and rigged poker games

According to US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella, the indictments stem from two major fraud-related schemes: one focused on illegal sports betting, and another involving rigged underground poker games.

Nocella said that 31 defendants “participated in a nationwide scheme” to manipulate poker games using “high-tech cheating technology to steal millions of dollars from victims.”

These games, which reportedly took place in the New York metropolitan area, were backed by members of the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese crime families, three of the most powerful Mafia organizations in the US, Nocella said.

“This alleged illegal gambling operation hustled unwitting victims out of tens of millions of dollars and created a financial pipeline for La Cosa Nostra to help fund and facilitate their organized criminal activity,” said FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge Christopher Raia.

The charges include wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, and illegal gambling, according to officials briefed on the matter.

Law enforcement sources cited by The New York Times indicated that some defendants were involved in both schemes, which collectively defrauded victims of tens of millions of dollars.

High-profile NBA arrests draw national attention

Among those arrested were Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier, and Damon Jones — all prominent figures within the NBA.

Billups, currently the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, was taken into custody in Portland, Oregon.

Rozier, a 10-year NBA veteran currently playing for the Miami Heat, was arrested in Orlando, Florida.

Billups, a five-time All-Star and NBA Finals MVP in 2004 with the Detroit Pistons, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.

Authorities said Rozier had been under federal scrutiny for months due to “suspicious sports betting activity related to his play.”

Jones, 49, who played for ten NBA teams, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, was also detained.

In 2023, while playing for the Charlotte Hornets, Terry Rozier was linked to “unusual betting activity” during a March game against the New Orleans Pelicans, the NBA stated earlier this year.

Rozier recorded five points, four rebounds, and two assists in the first quarter before leaving the game due to what the team described as “foot discomfort.”

These numbers were significantly below his season averages and fell under the betting lines set by sportsbooks for proposition wagers.

He did not return to play for the remainder of the season.

The NBA conducted an internal investigation at the time and reported finding no evidence of wrongdoing.

Separately, a federal investigation continued, which remained unresolved throughout Rozier’s 2025 offseason.