Feds allege Chauncey Billups was ‘face card’ in high-stakes, Mafia-backed poker scam

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups — a Denver native and former basketball star at the University of Colorado and with the Denver Nuggets — allegedly participated in a years-long scheme to rig Mafia-led poker games through sophisticated technological means, scamming wealthy players out of millions of dollars, according to a sweeping federal indictment unsealed Thursday.

Billups was arrested Thursday in Oregon and faces federal charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. The NBA said he was placed on immediate leave.

The 49-year-old coach appeared in court later in the day, and attorneys from both sides told the judge they had agreed on Billups’ release from custody on the condition he secure “a substantial bond,” though the amount wasn’t discussed in court. He is also prohibited from gambling-related activity.

Chris Heywood, Billups’ attorney, released a statement to ESPN on Thursday night denying the allegations.

“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,” the statement read.

“Furthermore, Chauncey Billups has never and would never gamble on basketball games, provide insider information, or sacrifice the trust of his team and the League, as it would tarnish the game he has devoted his entire life to.”

The arrest came as part of a massive federal investigation into illegal, high-stakes poker games with ties to organized crime families. A second, related criminal case involved professional basketball players and coaches allegedly using inside information to set up fraudulent bets for their associates.

The 22-page indictment, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleges the poker games began as early as 2019 and spanned New York state, Las Vegas and Miami.

Victims of the scheme thought they were playing in “straight” illegal poker games, according to the indictment.

In reality, a group of people — referred to as the “cheating team” — worked together to scam them out of more than $7 million, investigators said.

They used a variety of high-tech methods to rig the games, federal authorities alleged. Wireless technologies to read the cards dealt in each hand. Rigged shuffling machines. Electronic poker chip trays that could secretly read cards placed on the table. Card analyzers that could surreptitiously detect which cards were on the table. Playing cards that had markers visible only to people wearing specially designed contact lenses or glasses.

Billups, investigators allege, was known as a “face card.” He and other former professional athletes were used to attract victims to the poker games. In exchange, they received portions of the criminal proceeds, authorities said.

The indictment spells out one game in April 2019, in Las Vegas, when the group defrauded poker players of at least $50,000. Billups, along with four others, “organized and participated in these rigged games using a rigged shuffling machine,” according to the indictment.

‘Threats of force and violence’

Authorities say the games operated “with the express permission and approval of” members of certain organized crime families of La Cosa Nostra.

These individuals — with nicknames like “Spanish G,” “Flapper Poker,” “Sugar” and “Albanian Bruce” — provided support and protection for the games and collected debts in exchange for a portion of the illegal proceeds

The organized crime families used “threats of force and violence” to secure repayment of debts from these poker games, according to the indictment.

All told, the poker scheme defrauded participants of at least $7.15 million, investigators said.

“Using the allure of high-stakes winnings and the promise to play alongside well-known professional athletes, these defendants allegedly defrauded unwitting victims out of tens of millions of dollars and established a financial pipeline to La Cosa Nostra,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia said in a statement. “This alleged scheme wreaked havoc across the nation, exploiting the notoriety of some and the wallets of others to finance the Italian crime families.”

Thursday’s indictment “sounds the final buzzer for these cheaters,” said Joseph Nocella Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

The second criminal case involved NBA players and coaches divulging nonpublic information to their associates for the purpose of placing bets.

The 23-page indictment does not name Billups, but does list nine unnamed co-conspirators, including an Oregon resident who was an NBA player from about 1997 to 2014 and an NBA coach since at least 2021. Billups played in the NBA from 1997 to 2014 and was hired by the Blazers in 2021.

That individual, referred to as “co-conspirator 8,” allegedly told a bettor that several of the Blazers’ best players would be sitting out a March 23, 2023, game against the Chicago Bulls in order to increase their odds of getting a better draft pick.

The gamblers wagered more than $100,000 that Portland would lose the game. The Blazers lost by 28.

‘The King of Park Hill’

Billups was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year. The five-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA point guard led the Detroit Pistons to their third league title in 2004 as NBA Finals MVP.

The Denver-born phenom graduated from George Washington High School and played basketball at CU before being selected with the No. 3 overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics.