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The National Basketball Association has placed Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier on administrative leave from their respective teams after both were federally charged in relation to a sweeping FBI investigation into illegal sports betting and alleged Mafia-backed poker rigging schemes.
"We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today," the NBA said in a statement re-shared by ESPN's Shams Charania on Thursday (October 23). "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 federal takedown resulted in more than 30 arrests spanning 11 states and included charges of wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery and illegal gambling, according to Patel.
“The fraud is mind-blogging,” Patel told reporters, referring to the alleged incidents as a “criminal enterprise that envelops both the NBA and La Cosa Nostra.”
Rozier, 31, was among six defendants indicted in the first case, dubbed "Operation Nothing But Bet," accusing them of an insider sports betting scheme that "exploited confidential information," which U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. called “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since only sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.” The guard was arrested at a hotel in Orlando, Florida, Thursday morning.
Sportsbooks in multiple states reportedly flagged suspicious betting interest on Rozier's statistics prior to the March 23, 2023, game between the Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans after a surge of bets were placed on the under on Rozier's points, rebounds and assists, causing the sportsbooks to halt the offerings, ESPN's Shams Charania reported earlier in the day. The guard, who played for the Hornets at the time, left the game after just 10 minutes with what was reported to be a foot injury.
Rozier is in the final season of a four-year, $96.3 million deal that he reached with the Hornets in August 2021 prior to being traded to the Heat in January 2024.
Billups, 49, and former NBA player Damon Jones were among 31 defendants indicted in the second case, dubbed "Operation Royal Flush," in which suspects allegedly used high-tech cheating gadgets to steal millions from games backed by four of the "Five Families" long suspected to have ruled organized crime within the New York area. It wasn't immediately clear where Billups was arrested, however, he is set to be arraigned in Portland, hours after coaching the Blazers in a home game Wednesday (October 22) night.
Jones, 49, was reported to be arrest in Las Vegas.
“Your winning streak has ended,” Nocella said of the “Royal Flush” case during Thursday's press conference. “Your luck has run out. Violating the law is a losing proposition, and you can bet on that.”