NBA Coach Billups Pleads Innocent To Mafia-linked Gambling
Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and NBA Hall of Famer, was jailed in connection with rigged prohibited poker games
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups pleaded innocent Monday to alleged involvement in Mafia-linked unlawful gambling plans that rocked the NBA, prosecutors stated.
Billups, a previous Detroit Pistons star and NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested in connection with rigged prohibited poker games tied to Mafia criminal activity households.
He was targeted together with Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier in an FBI-led examination into the scam that allegedly saw gamers cheated with using advanced methods consisting of an X-ray table and barcoded card decks.
Dozens of other suspects were jailed as part of the FBI probe.
Rozier and Billups were positioned on indefinite leave by the NBA after being apprehended in the betting investigation.
Rozier and a previous NBA player and assistant coach, Damon Jones, were among 6 people apprehended in a separate sports wagering case.
Billups was prosecuted on charges of conspiracy to devote wire scams and cash laundering, to which he pleaded not guilty Monday, the Eastern District of New york city prosecutors' office confirmed to AFP.
Billups was launched on bond after at first appearing in federal court in Portland, Oregon, and was represented by attorney Marc Mukasey at a brief hearing in a Brooklyn court on Monday.
Billups will now sign a $5 million bond in the Eastern District of New York City for his pre-trial release, district attorneys included.
Prosecutors say Billups's celeb helped lure gamers to high-stakes video games that utilized "modern cheating innovation."
That tech consisted of shuffling machines that could check out cards, concealed video cameras and barcoded decks.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last month he was "deeply disrupted" by the far-ranging FBI probe into .
"My initial reaction was I was deeply disturbed," Silver stated in an interview with Amazon Prime.
"There's absolutely nothing more vital for the league and its fans than the integrity of the competition."
Silver revealed remorse that the allegations had actually taken attention far from the start of the season.
"I say sorry to our fans that we are all dealing with, now, this scenario," Silver stated.