当局周四宣布，波特兰开拓者队主教练昌西·比卢普斯(Chauncey Billups)是被指控与黑手党有关的非法扑克活动的人之一，而迈阿密热火队后卫特里·罗齐尔(Miami Heat guard)是被指控在一个独立但相关的非法赌博案件中的几人之一。
比卢普斯被指控犯有电信诈骗阴谋和洗钱阴谋。
NBA表示，两人都立即被各自的球队停职。
“我们正在审查今天宣布的联邦起诉，”NBA在一份声明中说。“特里·罗齐尔和昌西·比卢普斯将立即离开他们的球队，我们将继续与有关当局合作。我们以最严肃的态度对待这些指控，我们游戏的完整性仍然是我们的首要任务。"
美国检察官约瑟夫·诺塞拉(Joseph Nocella Jr .)说，这些扑克游戏包括篮球运动员，以增加其真实性的可信度，据称这些游戏受到操纵，有利于那些运营游戏的人，使用先进的技术，如操纵洗牌机，甚至X射线技术来读取牌面朝下的牌。
官员们说，比赛将于2019年在汉普顿斯、曼哈顿、拉斯维加斯和迈阿密举行。官员们说，所谓的扑克骗局的利润高达700万美元，“而且还在增加”。NYPD专员杰西卡·蒂施说，这项调查历时两年。
NYPD称，当受害者(其中一些人损失了数百万)拒绝付款时，暴徒被告诉诸暴力。
“欺诈令人难以置信，”美国联邦调查局导演卡什·帕特尔在宣布指控的新闻发布会上说。"我们谈论的是数千万美元的盗窃、诈骗和抢劫."
比卢普斯在周三晚上的赛季揭幕战中执教开拓者，输给了明尼苏达森林狼队。在2014年退役之前，比卢普斯也是名人堂球员，主要为底特律活塞效力。他在NBA的17年里五次入选全明星，并在2004年带领活塞赢得NBA冠军，被评为总决赛MVP。
“我们知道涉及主教练昌西·比卢普斯的指控，开拓者队正在全力配合调查，”波特兰开拓者队在一份声明中说。“比卢普斯已经被安排立即休假，蒂亚戈·斯普利特将在此期间承担主教练的职责。任何进一步的问题都应该直接问NBA。”
克里斯托弗·莱亚，助理署长负责美国联邦调查局的纽约办事处称这是一次“大规模的、全国性的抓捕行动”,涉及34名被告，他们分别参与了两项体育博彩和非法扑克游戏。
当局说，被告中有现任和前任NBA教练和球员，以及来自博纳诺、甘比诺和吉诺维斯犯罪家族的13名黑手党成员和同伙。
当局称这是一个“蔓延的犯罪企业”，用来“欺骗不知情的赌徒”
与此同时，在官员们所描述的与NBA比赛中的道具赌博有关的“重叠”案件中，罗齐尔和前克里夫兰骑士队球员兼助理教练达蒙·琼斯已被逮捕。
琼斯和比卢普斯一样，被指控共谋电信诈骗和共谋洗钱。
消息人士称，罗齐尔和琼斯涉嫌将内幕消息传递给四名共同被告，他们被指控将这些信息传递给一个体育博彩网络。据称，这些投注者向在线体育博彩公司或零售投注站下注，这些投注站禁止基于非公开信息的投注。
消息人士称，起诉书中包括2023年3月23日的一个例子，当时Rozier -当时为夏洛特黄蜂队效力-据称向一名共同被告透露，他计划因据称受伤而提前离开比赛。他在九分钟后离开了比赛。据称，一名共同被告和其他人下了20万美元的赌注，打赌Rozier的表现会低于他的统计数据。
“很久以前，我们就接触过这些检察官，告诉他们我们应该有一个开放的沟通渠道，”罗齐尔的律师詹姆斯·特拉斯提在一份声明中说。“他们将特里描述为一个主体，而不是目标，但今天早上6点，他们打电话告诉我美国联邦调查局特工试图在一家酒店逮捕他。”
他继续说道，“他们似乎相信了极其不可信的消息来源，而不是依赖于不法行为的实际证据。特里被NBA证明无罪，这些检察官重新提起了这个非案件。特里不是赌徒，但他不怕打架，他期待赢得这场战斗。”
罗齐尔在NBA已经呆了11年了。他已经出现在665场比赛中，在665场比赛中平均每场13.9分。在加入黄蜂队之前，他是波士顿凯尔特人队在2016-19赛季季后赛中的关键贡献者。
他的球队周三晚上在奥兰多开启了2025赛季，但罗齐尔因为腿筋受伤而没有参加比赛。
与此同时，琼斯利用与洛杉矶湖人队的特殊关系获得了某些球员的非公开医疗信息，检察官称他将这些信息出售给了共同被告，以便他们可以下注。
2023年2月9日，当湖人队对阵雄鹿队时，据称琼斯给一名同谋发了一条短信说:“今晚在信息出来之前，在密尔沃基下一个大赌注![玩家3]今晚出局。赌够了Djones才能吃饭。"有争议的杰出球员没有上场，湖人继续输了。
琼斯在NBA的11年里，曾是几支球队的角色球员，最著名的是2016年克利夫兰骑士队的冠军球队。
Tisch称这次调查“不过是更好”，并特别针对Rozier涉嫌参与。
“随着NBA赛季的结束，他的职业生涯已经坐冷板凳，不是因为受伤，而是因为诚信，”Tisch说。
检察官说，NBA配合了调查。
Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups charged in illegal poker operation tied to Mafia
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups is among those charged in an illegal poker operation tied to the Mafia, while Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is among several people charged in a separate but related illegal gambling case, authorities announced on Thursday.
Billups has been charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
Both have immediately been placed on leave by their teams, the NBA said.
"We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today," the NBA said in a statement."Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and 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."
The poker games, which included basketball players to lend credibility to their authenticity, were allegedly rigged in favor of those running the games, using advanced technology, such as rigged shuffling machines and even X-ray technology to read cards facing down on the table, U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.
Games were organized beginning in 2019 in the Hamptons, Manhattan, Las Vegas and Miami, officials said. The profits from the alleged poker scheme ran up to $7 million "and counting," officials said. The investigation took place across two years, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
When victims, some of whom lost millions, refused to pay, the mob defendants resorted to violence, the NYPD said.
"The fraud is mindboggling," FBI Director Kash Patel said at a news conference in Brooklyn announcing the charges."We're talking about tens of millions of dollars in theft, in fraud, in robbery."
Billups coached the Trail Blazers in their season opener on Wednesday night, a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Billups was also a Hall of Fame player, mostly for the Detroit Pistons, before retiring in 2014. He was a five-time All-Star in his 17 years in the NBA and led the Pistons to the NBA title in 2004, being named Finals MVP.
"We are aware of the allegations involving head coach Chauncey Billups, and the Trail Blazers are fully cooperating with the investigation," the Portland Trail Blazers said in a statement. "Billups has been placed on immediate leave, and Tiago Splitter will assume head coaching duties in the interim. Any further questions should be directed to the NBA."
Christopher Raia,assistant director in charge of theFBI’s New York Field Office, called it a "massive, nationwide takedown" of 34 defendants in connection with two separate sports betting and illegal poker schemes.
Among the defendants are current and former NBA coaches and players, authorities said, as well as 13 Mafia members and associates from the Bonano, Gambino and Genovese crime families.
Authorities described it as a "sprawling criminal enterprise" to "dupe unsuspecting gamblers."
Meanwhile, in what officials described as an "overlapping" case tied to prop betting on NBA games, Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers player and assistant coach Damon Jones have been arrested.
Jones, like Billups, has been charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
Rozier and Jones allegedly passed inside information to four co-defendants, who are accused of passing the information to a network of sports bettors, sources said. Those bettors allegedly placed wagers with online sports books or retail betting outlets, which prohibit betting based on nonpublic information.
The indictment included an example from March 23, 2023, when Rozier -- then playing for the Charlotte Hornets -- allegedly tipped off a co-defendant that he planned to leave the game early with a purported injury, sources said. He left the game nine minutes in. A co-defendant and others allegedly placed $200,000 in wagers, betting Rozier would underperform his statistics.
"A long time ago we reached out to these prosecutors to tell them we should have an open line of communication," Rozier's lawyer, James Trusty, said in a statement. "They characterized Terry as a subject, not a target, but at 6 a.m. this morning they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel."
He continued, "They appear to be taking the word of spectacularly in-credible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing. Terry was cleared by the NBA and these prosecutors revived that non-case. Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight."
Rozier is in his 11th year in the NBA. He's appeared in 665 games and has averaged 13.9 points per game over 665 games played. He was a key contributor for the Boston Celtics on playoff runs in 2016-19 before joining the Hornets.
His team opened the 2025 season Wednesday night in Orlando, but Rozier did not play as he deals with a hamstring injury.
Jones, meanwhile, used an ad-hoc affiliation with the Los Angeles Lakers to obtain nonpublic medical information about certain players that prosecutors said he sold to co-defendants so they could make bets.
On Feb. 9, 2023, when the Lakers played the Bucks, Jones allegedly sent a text message to a co-conspirator saying, “Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out! [Player 3] is out tonight.Bet enough so Djones can eat.”The prominent player in question did not play and the Lakers went on to lose.
Jones was a role player for several teams over 11 years in the NBA, most notably on the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers' championship team.
Tisch dubbed this investigation “Nothing But Bet” and took particular aim at Rozier’s alleged participation.
"As the NBA season tips off, his career is already benched, not for injury but for integrity," Tisch said.
