The FBI has arrested over 30 individuals, including NBA star Terry Rozier and head coach Chauncey Billups, in a sweeping investigation into illegal gambling and sports rigging connected to four major crime families. The arrests, announced on Thursday, involve charges of wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery, and illegal gambling.
FBI Director Kash Patel described the operation as a 'historic arrest across a wide sweeping criminal enterprise' that spanned years. The indictments, unsealed in New York, detail schemes involving the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese mafia families.
Rozier, currently a guard for the Miami Heat, is accused of manipulating a March 2024 game while playing for the Charlotte Hornets. According to New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Rozier allegedly informed associates he would leave the game early with a fake injury. They placed over $200,000 in bets on his under statistics, and after he exited after nine minutes, they collected tens of thousands in profits, later delivered to his home.
Billups, a Hall of Fame player and current Portland Trail Blazers coach, is among 31 defendants in a separate indictment for rigging illegal poker games. Prosecutors say the games, which began in 2019, used high-tech cheating devices including rigged shuffling machines, X-ray tables, and contact lenses to steal millions from victims, known as 'fish'. Billups and former NBA player Damon Jones allegedly acted as 'face cards' to lure victims.
The mafia families helped organise the games and took a cut of proceeds, authorities said. The investigation continues, with officials warning of the scale of fraud involved.
