NBA Coach Billups Pleads Innocent To Mafia-linked Gambling

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


Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups pleaded innocent Monday to alleged involvement in Mafia-linked illegal gaming schemes that rocked the NBA, prosecutors said.


Billups, a previous Detroit Pistons star and NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested in connection with rigged illegal poker games tied to Mafia criminal activity households.


He was targeted along with Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier in an FBI-led examination into the rip-off that presumably saw gamers cheated with using sophisticated techniques 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 placed on indefinite leave by the NBA after being apprehended in the gambling examination.


Rozier and a previous NBA player and assistant coach, Damon Jones, were among 6 individuals jailed in a separate sports betting case.


Billups was prosecuted on charges of conspiracy to devote wire scams and cash laundering, to which he Monday, the Eastern District of New york city district attorneys' office verified to AFP.


Billups was launched on bond after at first appearing in federal court in Portland, Oregon, and was represented by attorney Marc Mukasey at a short 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 added.


Prosecutors say Billups's star assisted draw players to high-stakes video games that utilized "state-of-the-art cheating technology."


That tech included shuffling makers that might check out cards, hidden cameras and barcoded decks.


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


"My initial reaction was I was deeply disturbed," 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 competitors."


Silver expressed remorse that the allegations 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 situation," Silver said.