Two NBA members’ seasons have hit an unusual blockade.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups were among 31 people arrested on Oct. 23 as part of an investigation into illegal gambling the FBI confirmed in a press conference, per NBC News.
The case includes two fraud indictments, as seen in court documents obtained by NBC News. The first—in which Rozier is named as one of six defendants—focuses on an alleged sports betting conspiracy and includes charges of wire fraud and money laundering.
The second indictment names 31 defendants, including Billups, and is part of a federal gambling investigation that allegedly involved four notorious mafia families. The felony charges include wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, operation of an illegal gambling business in relation, and robbery and extortion conspiracy under the Hobbs Act, court documents show.
According to FBI Director Kash Patel, the alleged “illegal gambling operation and sports rigging operation” spanned years and involved tens of millions of dollars in fraud.
Patel also said during the press conference that the FBI worked across 11 states to make arrests and that the charges involved from wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery, and illegal gambling.
He added, “The fraud is mind-boggling.”
During the conference, U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. said the suspects allegedly utilized high-tech cheating technology to steal millions of dollars from secretly rigged underground poker games, and named the Lucchese, Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese crime families as backing the games.
Federal officials are calling the poker scheme “Operation Royal Flush,” per Ricky Patel, the special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New York.
According to NBC News, citing an FBI spokesperson, in addition to Rozier and Billups, former NBA player Damon Jones was also arrested in connection with both indictments.
The players and coach, New York police commissioner Jessica Tisch said, were allegedly involved in a scheme dubbed “Operation Nothing But Net” that involved fraudulent NBA bets.
Among the others arrested, per NBC News, are members and associates of the organized crime groups.
E! News has reached out to Rozier’s attorney Jim Trusty for comment, but has not yet heard back, and has also attempted to locate legal representation for Jones and Billups for comment.
Trusty, representing Rozier, 31, slammed the circumstances of his client’s arrest in a statement to NBC News.
“A long time ago, we reached out to these prosecutors to tell them we should have an open line of communication,” Trusty said in the 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.”
Saying the FBI opted for a “photo-op” instead of allowing Rozier to self-surrender, the attorney alleged, “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.”
Following the news, the NBA shared an update on the actions its taking.
"We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today,” read the Oct. 23 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."
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)