NBA Coach Billups Pleads Innocent To Mafia-linked Gambling

Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and NBA Hall of Famer, was in connection with rigged unlawful poker video games


Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups pleaded not guilty Monday to alleged involvement in Mafia-linked unlawful gambling schemes that rocked the NBA, prosecutors said.


Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and NBA Hall of Famer, was jailed in connection with rigged illegal poker games tied to Mafia criminal offense families.


He was targeted in addition to Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier in an FBI-led examination into the fraud that supposedly saw players cheated with making use of sophisticated approaches consisting of an X-ray table and barcoded card decks.


Dozens of other suspects were apprehended as part of the FBI probe.


Rozier and Billups were positioned on indefinite leave by the NBA after being apprehended in the gambling investigation.


Rozier and a previous NBA player and assistant coach, Damon Jones, were among 6 people arrested in a separate sports wagering case.


Billups was arraigned on charges of conspiracy to dedicate wire scams and cash laundering, to which he pleaded innocent Monday, the Eastern District of New York 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 brief hearing in a Brooklyn court on Monday.


Billups will now sign a $5 million bond in the Eastern District of New York City for his pre-trial release, district attorneys included.


Prosecutors state Billups's celebrity helped draw gamers to high-stakes video games that used "high-tech cheating innovation."


That tech consisted of shuffling devices that could check out cards, hidden cameras and barcoded decks.


NBA commissioner Adam Silver stated last month he was "deeply disrupted" by the far-ranging FBI probe into prohibited betting.


"My initial response was I was deeply disrupted," Silver said in an interview with Amazon Prime.


"There's absolutely nothing more crucial for the league and its fans than the stability of the competition."


Silver revealed regret that the claims had actually taken attention far from the start of the season.


"I ask forgiveness to our fans that we are all dealing with, now, this circumstance," Silver said.