NBA Coach Billups Pleads Not Guilty To Mafia-linked Gambling
Billups, a previous Detroit Pistons star and NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested in connection with rigged unlawful poker video games
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups pleaded innocent Monday to alleged involvement in Mafia-linked prohibited gaming schemes that rocked the NBA, district attorneys said.
Billups, a previous Detroit Pistons star and NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested in connection with rigged unlawful poker games tied to Mafia criminal activity households.
He was targeted along with Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier in an FBI-led examination into the rip-off that allegedly saw players cheated with the usage of sophisticated techniques including an X-ray table and barcoded card decks.
Dozens of other suspects were jailed as part of the FBI probe.
Rozier and Billups were put on indefinite leave by the NBA after being jailed in the gambling investigation.
Rozier and a previous NBA player and assistant coach, Damon Jones, were among 6 individuals detained in a different sports betting case.
Billups was prosecuted on charges of conspiracy to dedicate wire scams and money laundering, to which he pleaded innocent Monday, the Eastern District of New york city prosecutors' workplace confirmed to AFP.
Billups was launched on bond after initially appearing in federal court in Portland, Oregon, and was represented by lawyer Marc Mukasey at a short hearing in a Brooklyn court on Monday.
Billups will now sign a $5 million bond in the Eastern District of New York for his pre-trial release, district attorneys added.
Prosecutors state Billups's celeb helped lure players to high-stakes video games that utilized "high-tech unfaithful technology."
That tech included shuffling machines that might check out cards, hidden cams and barcoded decks.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last month he was "deeply disrupted" by the far-ranging FBI probe into unlawful betting.
"My initial response was I was deeply disturbed," Silver stated in an with Amazon Prime.
"There's nothing more crucial for the league and its fans than the integrity of the competition."
Silver revealed regret that the allegations had taken attention away from the start of the season.
"I ask forgiveness to our fans that we are all handling, now, this scenario," Silver said.