Ex-player Damon Jones allegedly shared inside information about the health of James with gamblers seeking to profit.

Shortly after the first tip of the NBA regular season, a federal probe of illegal gambling rocked the sport on Thursday morning, including allegations that inside information about LeBron James was used for illicit profit.

Federal authorities arrested Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier early Thursday as part of a multi-year sports betting investigation. Rozier, a veteran guard, did not play in Wednesday’s Heat-Magic opener due to a coach’s decision.

Rozier’s arrest came after authorities probed an uptick in suspicious activity related to his performance in a March 2023 game against New Orleans. Then a member of the Charlotte Hornets, Rozier left the game prematurely with an apparent foot injury.

Separately, authorities also arrested Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups in Oregon. Billups’ arrest is tied to alleged involvement in an illegal poker game operated by organised crime figures. The investigation into the illegal poker games ensnared several members of New York criminal groups, including the infamous La Cosa Nostra network.

In total, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn indicted 31 defendants on Thursday across 11 states. The indictments centred on two major operations: an enterprise to rig illicit poker games at various locations throughout the nation and a sports betting scheme that allegedly used material non-public information to benefit from Rozier’s statistical outcomes.
How LeBron James is referenced in gambling case

A third NBA figure, former guard Damon Jones, was named in indictments connected to both the sports betting and poker investigations.

Jones, a former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate of James who remained close to him afterwards, allegedly attempted to profit from inside information about the NBA star in 2023. According to the indictment, Jones had knowledge that James was suffering from an injury and might not play for the Los Angeles Lakers in an upcoming game. That game took place in February 2023, two days after James broke the NBA all-time scoring record.

Joseph Nocella, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, stated at a Brooklyn news conference that several defendants turned professional basketball into a “criminal betting operation” by using private locker room and medical information to “cheat legitimate sportsbooks”.
Gambling allegations against Rozier do not involve James

Before Rozier signed a multi-year contract with the Heat, he played just 10 minutes in the aforementioned game against the Pelicans on 23 March 2023. At least six sportsbooks in multiple states flagged suspicious activity related to Rozier’s performance, ESPN reported.

One sportsbook took 30 bets in a period of 46 minutes, all of which resulted in wins for the bettor. While the NBA conducted an investigation of the activity, the league did not determine at the time that league betting rules were violated.

Prior to the game, Deniro Laster, another defendant, sold information on Rozier’s plan to leave the game early to multiple co-conspirators, prosecutors stated. Rozier, a close friend of Laster, has known the defendant since childhood, according to the indictment.

Before the game started, Rozier informed Laster of his plans to leave the game prematurely in the first quarter due to a “supposed” injury, prosecutors allege. Based on the information provided by Rozier, the defendants wagered “more than $200,000 on his under statistics”, according to New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

The information was allegedly transmitted to Marves Fairley, another defendant in the case. Fairley, a professional sports betting tout, has been mentioned previously in various media reports for his alleged involvement in the federal sports betting investigation. In exchange for the information, Fairley and another co-conspirator agreed to pay Laster approximately $100,000  from their expected fraudulent gambling winnings, according to the indictment.

“As the NBA tips off, [Rozier’s] career is already benched, not for injury, but for integrity,” Tisch stated.
Patel not mincing words on gravity of allegations

Around 29 March 2023, Fairley allegedly gave Laster tens of thousands of dollars in cash in exchange for the tip on Rozier, according to the indictment. From there, Laster apparently drove from Philadelphia to North Carolina for a meeting with Rozier at his Charlotte home. During the early morning hours of 1 April 2023, the two counted the money that Laster obtained from Fairley, prosecutors allege.

“Let’s not mince words, this is the insider trading saga for the NBA,” said FBI Director Kash Patel at the news conference.

Rozier is not alleged to have any relation to the gambling allegations that involve information about the health of LeBron James.

Jim Trusty, Rozier’s attorney, told USA Today Sports on Thursday that investigators previously told Rozier that he was a “subject, not a target” of the probe.

“Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight,” Trusty wrote in a statement.
Poker investigation of Billups separate from betting

Billups, a five-time All-Star as a player who was the 2004 NBA Finals MVP, is facing charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy in connection with his arrest. The charges centre on his participation in an April 2019 poker game that prosecutors alleged was rigged.

In an attempt to attract unsuspecting victims into the rigged game, Billups and Jones acted as so-called “face cards” by using their celebrity status to bring players to the table, according to the indictments. The pair each received a portion of the ill-gotten proceeds for their participation in the scheme, prosecutors stated.

Four other defendants – Robert Stroud, Eric Earnest, Jamie Gilet and Sophia Wei – organised and participated in the rigged Las Vegas poker game, according to the indictment. As part of the scheme, the defendants defrauded the victims of at least $50,000. Stroud allegedly supplied a rigged shuffling machine that was used in the game.
NBA statement on gambling scandal

Thursday’s arrests come one day after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called for enhanced regulation of sports betting. During an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN, Silver advocated for restrictions on player props involving reserve players off the bench.

“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.”

Shortly after Thursday’s news conference in Brooklyn, the NBA issued a statement on the arrests. The league placed Billups and Rozier on immediate leave. The NBA has cooperated with federal authorities on the comprehensive probe.

“We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today,” the league said in the statement. “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.”

Last week, ESPN reported that the FBI has interviewed college athletes regarding an ongoing probe into suspicious betting activity in college basketball. ESPN cited documents that linked Fairley to a pattern of irregular activity on first-half college wagers. When reached by ESPN, Fairley denied the allegations. Nocella noted on Thursday that his office’s investigation does not pertain to college hoops.
Ongoing investigation involving Porter

Well prior to Thursday’s indictments, former Toronto Raptors centre Jontay Porter was convicted on federal wire fraud charges related to illicit sports betting and is scheduled to be sentenced in December. Porter conspired with a gambling syndicate to defraud a sports betting company by deliberately underperforming on a bevy of statistical categories in a March 2024 game.

The NBA later banned Porter for life. At least two of Porter’s co-conspirators, Ammar Awawdeh and Shane Hennen, were named in Thursday’s indictments. The investigation is ongoing, Nocella stressed.

Four Mafia organised crime groups, the Lucchese, Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese families, played a role in the poker scheme, federal officials said Thursday. In using sophisticated manipulation technology, the Mafia-backed poker scheme defrauded individuals of at least $7 million, according to prosecutors.

“The FBI will never turn a blind eye to any insider betting scheme within sporting industries – regardless of title or professional affiliation – to protect its integrity,” said Christopher Raia, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office.