Hook, line, and sinker, the trap was set and these NBA stars fell for it — but not before fooling a few "fish."NBA pro athletes have been accused of playing "face cards" to lure the average Joe or "fish" into a high-profile mafia-linked gambling scheme.Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA guard and coach Damon Jones are among the high-profile names arrested through the FBI investigation into the gambling scheme. According to Fox News, officials state Billups, Rozier and Jones have all been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.Who else is part of this scheme you ask?The crime family La Cosa Nostra was involved in what were two separate operations across several states.The games that went on in New York were organized by the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese crime families of La Cosa Nostra.."This is an illegal gambling operation and sports-rigging operation that spans the course of years," stated FBI Director Kash Patel. "The FBI led a coordinated takedown across 11 states to arrest over 30 individuals today responsible for this case, which is very much ongoing.""Not only did we crack into the fraud that these perpetrators committed, on the grand stage of the NBA, but we also entered and executed a system of justice."Two indictments were announced in connection with the scheme, one on illegal sports betting and one on illegal gambling involving rigged poker games. .The poker games allegedly stole millions of dollars from the victims in underground poker games that were secretly fixed."This operation involved an expansive effort across 11 states arresting 34 subjects, including multiple NBA players and coaches, who allegedly took advantage of their own positions of power to rig gambling systems for their own benefit — eventually funneling money to La Cosa Nostra, enriching some of the most notorious criminal networks in the world," said Patel to Fox News in a statement. FBI stated they had gathered over 3,000 phone calls and meeting recordings with the targets of the investigation — undercover agents even participated in a rigged poker game. .To avoid detection by law enforcement, the funds gathered through the scheme were converted into cryptocurrency by members of the crime ring. U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella claimed schemers targeted victims, or "fish," who lured their victims by dangling the chance to play next to a pro-athlete NBA player, known to schemers as the "face cards."Nocella claimed Billups and Jones were dubbed "face cards."He also said the "fish" were perfectly ignorant that the "face cards" were in on the con.."The indictment details specific examples where the defendants profited from illegal gambling and illegal betting on various NBA games about the performance of players on, among other things, the Charlotte Hornets, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Toronto (Raptors)," stated Nocella.Jessica Tisch, New York City Police Commissioner, claimed Rozier faked an injury to leave a game between the Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans in March 2023.Rozier had reportedly told co-defendant Deniro Laster that he would take himself out of the game so Laster could bet on it. The NBA reportedly cooperated with the investigation.
