Portland Trail Blazers coach pleads not guilty in rigged poker games case

NEW YORK — Portland Path Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, a member of the Basketball Corridor of Fame, pleaded not responsible Monday to costs he profited from rigged poker video games involving a number of Mafia figures and at the least one different ex-NBA participant.

Billups, a five-time All Star who gained a championship with the Detroit Pistons, was arraigned in a federal courtroom in Brooklyn on cash laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy costs, every carrying a most sentence of 20 years in jail.

Prosecutors say he was involving a scheme to rig mob-backed unlawful poker video games in Manhattan, Las Vegas, Miami and the Hamptons. Others face costs of operating an unlawful playing enterprise, theft conspiracy and extortion conspiracy. Prosecutors mentioned Monday that plea negotiations have begun with some defendants however didn’t establish them.

U.S. District Court docket Choose Ramon Reyes mentioned he hopes to carry the sprawling case to trial by subsequent September, telling legal professionals to “do what it’s important to do.”

Billups, wearing a darkish gray swimsuit, spoke solely to reply yes-or-no questions from the decide. His lawyer, Marc Mukasey, entered his plea. They declined to remark after the listening to. Final month, one other Billups lawyer referred to as him a “man of integrity” who denies the allegations.

“To consider that Chauncey Billups did what the federal authorities is accusing him of is to consider that he would danger his Corridor of Fame legacy, his repute and his freedom,” legal professional Chris Heywood mentioned after Billups first appeared in courtroom on Oct. 23, when prosecutors first introduced the indictment.

Billups, 49, was launched on a $5 million bond secured by his household’s Colorado dwelling. He should chorus from playing, keep away from contact with different defendants or alleged victims, give up his passport and restrict journey to seven states, together with Oregon and New York, and Washington, D.C.

Inducted final 12 months into the Naismith Memorial Corridor of Fame, Billups was arguably probably the most outstanding amongst greater than 30 individuals charged in final month’s sprawling federal takedown of unlawful playing operations linked to skilled sports activities. Additionally charged are ex-NBA participant and assistant coach Damon Jones and Miami Warmth guard Terry Rozier, who prosecutors say schemed with others to let gamblers exploit insider details about gamers to win NBA bets.

Along with Monday’s arraignment, Billups and his co-defendants attended a standing convention and are due again in courtroom March 4.

Prosecutors say the poker-rigging scheme used altered card-shuffling machines, hidden cameras in chip trays, particular sun shades and X-ray tools constructed into the desk to learn playing cards. They allege the operation defrauded victims of an estimated $7 million beginning in at the least 2019.

Billups allegedly served as a celeb “face card” that might draw rich, unsuspecting gamers to the video games. Prosecutors mentioned organizers texted throughout one recreation {that a} sufferer “acted like he needed Chauncey to have his cash” as a result of he was “star struck.”

Prosecutors say Billups obtained a portion of the ill-gotten positive aspects. together with a $50,000 wire switch after a rigged recreation in October 2020.

Organizers additionally needed to share their proceeds with the Gambino, Genovese and Bonanno mob households for working throughout the unlawful poker video games run by the New York felony enterprises, prosecutors mentioned. In return, Mafia members allegedly carried out assault, extortion and theft to gather money owed and shield the operation.

Throughout his NBA profession, Billups earned about $106 million. After retiring in 2014, he launched into a profession as a TV analyst earlier than pivoting to teaching.

Billups was chosen because the third general decide within the 1997 draft by the Boston Celtics after starring in faculty for the Colorado Buffaloes. He performed 17 years within the NBA, with stints with the Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers.

However he’s maybe most beloved within the Motor Metropolis, the place he earned the nickname “Mr. Large Shot” for his knack of creating clutch pictures.

Billups was named the NBA Finals MVP through the Pistons’ title run in 2004 and had his No. 1 jersey retired by the workforce.

He was employed as Portland’s coach in 2021 and signed a multiyear extension with the Path Blazers earlier this 12 months after the workforce missed out on the playoffs for the fourth straight season in 2024. Billups beforehand served as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers.

After his arrest, he was positioned on unpaid depart and the Path Blazers named assistant coach and former NBA participant Tiago Splitter as interim coach.