chauncey billups

NEW YORK — Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he profited from rigged poker games involving several Mafia figures and at least one other ex-NBA player.

Billups, a five-time All Star and onetime Clippers player and assistant coach who won a championship with the Detroit Pistons, was arraigned in a federal court in Brooklyn on money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy charges involving a scheme to rig mob-backed illegal poker games in Manhattan, Las Vegas, Miami and the Hamptons.

Both charges carry a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison. Others implicated face charges of running an illegal gambling business, robbery conspiracy and extortion conspiracy.

Prosecutors said Monday that plea negotiations have begun with some defendants, though they didn’t name them.

U.S. District Court Judge Ramon Reyes said he hoped to bring the sprawling case to trial by next September, urging lawyers in the courtroom to “do what you have to do.”

Billups, who wore a dark gray suit during Monday’s brief arraignment, spoke only to answer the judge’s yes or no questions. His lawyer, Marc Mukasey, entered his not guilty plea.

They declined to comment to reporters afterward, but one of Billups’ lawyers has called him a “man of integrity” and said he denies the charges.

“To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his Hall of Fame legacy, his reputation and his freedom. He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game,” Chris Heywood said after Billups appeared in federal court in Portland, Ore., when prosecutors first announced the indictment on Oct. 23.

Billups, 49, was released on a $5-million bond secured by his family’s Colorado home. He must refrain from gambling and can have no contact with other defendants or alleged victims. He has surrendered his passport and can only travel to seven states, including Oregon and New York, and Washington, D.C.

Inducted last year into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, Billups was arguably the most prominent among more than 30 people charged in last month’s sprawling federal takedown of illegal gambling operations linked to professional sports.

In addition to his arraignment, Billups and his co-defendants, including ex-NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones, appeared for a status conference on Monday and are due back in court on March 4.

Prosecutors say the poker-rigging scheme utilized sophisticated technology such as altered card-shuffling machines, hidden cameras in chip trays, special sunglasses and X-ray equipment built into the table to read cards.

Jones, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and others are also charged with allegedly scheming to allow gamblers to exploit insider information about players to win NBA bets.

Prosecutors say the poker scheme Billups was involved in defrauded victims of an estimated $7 million starting in at least 2019.

They say he served as a celebrity “face card” that could draw wealthy, unsuspecting players to the games. Prosecutors said during one game, the scheme’s organizers exchanged messages saying one of the victims “acted like he wanted Chauncey to have his money” because he was “star struck.”

Prosecutors say Billups, who earned about $106 million from his playing days, received a portion of the ill-gotten gains. After one rigged game in October 2020, for example, they say he was directly wired $50,000.

The scheme organizers also had to share a portion of their proceeds with the Gambino, Genovese and Bonanno mob families for operating within the illegal poker games run by the New York criminal enterprises, prosecutors said.

Mafia members, in turn, helped commit violent acts, including assault, extortion and robbery, to ensure repayment of debts and the continued success of the operation, they said.

Billups was selected as the third overall pick in the 1997 draft by the Boston Celtics after starring in college for the Colorado Buffaloes. He played 17 years in the NBA, with stints with the Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks and Clippers.

But he is perhaps most beloved in the Motor City, where he earned the nickname “Mr. Big Shot” for his knack of making clutch shots.

Billups was named the NBA Finals MVP during the Pistons’ title run in 2004 and had his No. 1 jersey retired by the team.

After retiring in 2014, Billups embarked on a career as a TV analyst before pivoting to coaching.

He was hired as Portland’s coach in 2021 and signed a multiyear extension with the Trail Blazers earlier this year after the team missed out on the playoffs for the fourth straight season in 2024. Billups previously served as an assistant coach for the Clippers.

After his arrest, he was placed on unpaid leave and the Trail Blazers named assistant coach and former NBA player Tiago Splitter as interim coach.

Marcelo writes for the Associated Press. Associated Press reporter Michael R. Sisask contributed to this story.

Nov. 9 (UPI) — Emmanuel Clase de la Cruz and Luis Leandro Ortiz Ribera, two pitchers with the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball, were indicted Sunday for taking bribes in exchange for throwing rigged pitches so bettors could profit off the illegal information.

Federal prosecutors said Ortiz, 26, was arrested Sunday in Boston, Mass. Clase, 27, was already in police custody, authorities said.

The grand jury indictment unsealed Sunday in a Brooklyn courthouse charges the pair of pitchers with honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery and money-laundering conspiracy.

“Integrity, honesty and fair play are part of the DNA of professional sports. When corruption infiltrates the sport, it brings disgrace not only to the participants but damages the public trust in an institution that is vital and dear to all of us,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. said in a statement announcing the indictment.

Federal prosecutors allege the conspiracy began around May 2023 when Clase, a relief pitcher agreed with bettors to rig so-called prop bets on pitches he threw. Ortiz allegedly agreed to join the conspiracy in June.

The indictment states at least two bettors were involved in the conspiracy who allegedly used two online betting platforms to make their illegal wagers.

According to the document, Clase agreed with a person identified as Bettor-1 around May of 2023 to throw specific pitches, often balls and slower sliders, on the first pitches when brought in as relief during a game.

In one instance referenced in the document, Clase allegedly threw a pitch slower than 94.95 mph into the dirt “well before home plate.” Bettor-1 and others won about $38,000 on the pitch, according to the document.

In another instance, in late June 2025, after Ortiz allegedly joined the conspiracy, Ortiz agreed to throw a rigged pitch in exchange for $7,000. Clase allegedly was also paid $7,000 for arranging the interaction.

The pitch was to be thrown in a June 27 game, before which Ortiz allegedly withdrew $50,000 in cash, $15,000 of which was allegedly provided to an unnamed co-conspirator who bet on the rigged pitch.

If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment for each honest wire fraud conspiracy and honest services wire fraud conspiracy, five years for conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery and 20 years for money laundering.

Ortiz is to be arraigned in the Eastern District Court of New York at a later date.

Clase was entering the fourth year of his five-year, $20 million contract with the Guardians, which he signed in 2022 and runs through 2026.

The indictment against Clase and Ortiz is the latest legal action taken in the last few weeks targeting illegal gambling in professional and amateur sports.

On Friday, the NCAA stripped eligibility from six former men’s basketball players for betting-related game manipulation.

Last month, Terry Rozier of the Miami Heat and Chauncey Billups, coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, were arrested over their alleged involvement in a wide-ranging illegal sports betting and poker investigation.