Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York City Police Department Organized Crime Control Bureau's Joint Organized Crime Task Force began investigating individuals associated with the NBA for illegal gambling in 2023. [1] The bureau was alerted to unusual betting activity involving Rozier in March 2023. [5] The NBA also investigated, meeting with Rozier multiple times, but ultimately cleared him. [2] Rozier was arrested in Orlando, Florida, where the Heat played their season opener against the Orlando Magic. [6]
On October 23, 2025, the prosecutions were made public after the arrest of the involved parties. [1] Billups was arrested in Portland, Oregon, a day after the Trail Blazers' season-opening loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Both Rozier and Billups denied the allegations and were placed on administrative leave by the NBA pending review of the federal indictments. [7]
Alleged schemes
The prosecution involves two alleged schemes. Billups and Rozier were charged in separate but related schemes involving rigged poker games and illegal prop bets. Billups and Jones were accused of helping the Mafia organize rigged poker games, after which the Mafia would take a portion of the winnings and go after debtors. Billups and Jones are also charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. [1]
The first indictment involved a group accused of manipulating bets on NBA games using non-public information. Prosecutors identified at least seven games between February 2023 and March 2024 under scrutiny. Rozier was alleged to have informed associates that he would leave a February 2023 game early due to injury, allowing them to place over US$200,000 in bets predicting his underperformance. He exited the game after nine minutes with a reported foot injury. Jones was also charged for his alleged role in influencing bets on two other games, [7] and alleged to have shared privileged information about players' injuries before two Los Angeles Lakers games in 2023 and 2024. The indictment additionally accused "Co-Conspirator 8," an unnamed Oregon resident matching Billups' career timeline, of providing insider details about a Trail Blazers game in March 2023. [8]
The second indictment charged 31 defendants, including Billups, with operating a network of rigged high-stakes poker games connected to organized crime. Prosecutors stated that members and associates of the Bonanno, Genovese, and Gambino crime families used sophisticated technology such as modified shuffling machines, contact lenses, and an X-ray table to cheat players out of approximately $7 million. Victims were reportedly lured into games with former professional athletes in locations including Las Vegas, Miami, Manhattan, and the Hamptons. Unknown to the victims, everyone surrounding them was part of the fraud, players, dealers, even the card-shuffling and chip counting machines. [9] If players refused to pay losses, members of the crime families allegedly used threats and intimidation to collect debts. [7]
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