NBA Coach Billups Pleads Innocent To Mafia-linked Gambling

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


Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups pleaded not guilty Monday to declared participation in Mafia-linked illegal gaming plans that rocked the NBA, district attorneys said.


Billups, a previous Detroit Pistons star and NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested in connection with rigged prohibited poker games connected to Mafia crime households.


He was targeted in addition to Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier in an FBI-led examination into the scam that presumably saw gamers cheated with making use of advanced methods consisting of an X-ray table and barcoded card decks.


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


Rozier and Billups were put on indefinite leave by the NBA after being jailed in the gaming investigation.


Rozier and a previous NBA player and assistant coach, Damon Jones, were among six people detained in a different sports wagering case.


Billups was indicted on charges of to devote wire scams and money laundering, to which he pleaded innocent Monday, the Eastern District of New York district attorneys' office confirmed to AFP.


Billups was released on bond after at first appearing in federal court in Portland, Oregon, and was represented by lawyer Marc Mukasey at a quick hearing in a Brooklyn court on Monday.


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


Prosecutors say Billups's celebrity assisted tempt players to high-stakes games that used "high-tech unfaithful innovation."


That tech consisted of shuffling machines that might check out cards, concealed cameras and barcoded decks.


NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last month he was "deeply disturbed" by the far-ranging FBI probe into prohibited gambling.


"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 revealed regret that the allegations had actually taken attention far from the start of the season.


"I apologize to our fans that we are all dealing with, now, this circumstance," Silver stated.