FBI arrests NBA stars, exposes La Cosa Nostra crime ties in gambling scandal
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the arrest of 34 people, including Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA guard and coach Damon Jones, as part of a massive investigation into an illegal gambling scheme.
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed at a news conference in New York on Thursday that the investigation is linked to an investigation involving members of the La Cosa Nostra crime families, focusing on an illegal gambling operation and sports rigging operations that “spanned years.”
“Not only did we solve the fraud these perpetrators committed on the NBA’s big stage, but we also entered and implemented a system of justice against La Cosa Nostra that also extends to the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese crime families.”
CLICK HERE TO GET MORE SPORTS NEWS ON FOXNEWS.COM
“It takes brave prosecutors to stand in front of you and say we will not allow this type of illegal activity to happen, not only at the national sporting level, but also where La Cosa Nostra hides out,” Patel added. “And when these two came together, they committed a historic fraud, not only in terms of money, but also in terms of the scheme and deception they used to defraud and steal people out of money, to include crypto fraud.”
Portland Trail Blazers’ NBA coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were arrested Thursday for alleged illegal gambling. FBI Director Kash Patel said Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested in connection with fraudulent illegal poker games tied to the mob. Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones were arrested in a sports betting case, Patel said at a press conference in New York. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
Joseph Nocella, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced Thursday that two indictments, both involving fraud, were unsealed. The first focused on sports betting and the second involved illegal gambling linked to “rigged poker games.”
“These defendants, who included former professional athletes, used high-tech cheating technology to steal millions of dollars from victims in secretly rigged underground poker games,” Nocella said. “Games in the New York area were sponsored by the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families of La Cosa Nostra.”
The games were allegedly played in the Hamptons, Las Vegas, Miami and Manhattan. Nocella alleged that Billups and Jones were used as “face cards” to attract target victims known as “fish” who wanted to play alongside former professional athletes.
NBA PLAYER TERRY ROZIER’S LAWYER ACTED THE FBI AFTER ARREST
“What the victims, the fish, did not know was that everyone in the poker game, from the dealer to the players, including the face cards, was involved in this scam.”
Nocella said the crime families became involved as a result of their “pre-existing control over illegal poker games that were not rigged” in New York. 13 of the 34 defendants are alleged members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese crime families; these included high-ranking “capos and soldiers from these families.”
La Cosa Nostra
According to the FBI, La Cosa Nostra (LCN) crime families evolved from the Sicilian Mafia and are a New York-based network composed of five “families”: Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese. Its prevalence in the United States dates back to the 1920s.
Other cities with active LCN ties include Philadelphia, Detroit and Chicago, as well as the New England region.
The alleged crimes involving these organizations include many important cases, including major sports scandals. There is a long history of sports betting and match-fixing crimes in the United States, both directly and indirectly linked to organized crime.
Boxing 1950s-1960s
American mobster and boxing manager Frank Carbo leaves the Beach Street police station in New York after receiving a 10-point indictment for irregularities in professional boxing affairs on August 7, 1959. (Neal Boenzi/New York Times Co./Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Frank “Frankie” Carbo, a prominent Lucchese soldier, and his longtime partner Frank “Blinky” Palermo were convicted of extortion and conspiracy in 1961 after using threats and intimidation to control world heavyweight champion Don Jordan. The case revealed the mafia’s control over the sport at the time, highlighted by Carbo and Palermo’s influence over fighters and promotions. The convictions were later upheld, and the case exposed deep corruption that decades later helped spur reform movements that culminated in the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 and the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act of 2000.
HEAT’S TERRY ROZIER ARRESTED AS PART OF FBI’S SPORTS BEtting INVESTIGATION
1951 college basketball point-shaving scandal
Two city college basketball stars, Al Roth (in foreground) and Ed Warner (in hat), are escorted by detectives to the Elizabeth Street Station House for a booking on bribery charges. Police say two Beaver stars, along with teammate Ed Roman and three other men, have admitted their roles in a new basketball fixing scandal involving the “skipping” of several city games this season. (Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York has uncovered a widespread point-cutting scheme involving players from several major programs, including the City College of New York (CCNY) and Long Island University (LIU), who accepted bribes linked to organized crime gambling syndicates in New York. The investigation resulted in more than 30 criminal charges and led to prison terms for key figures and lifetime NBA bans for the players involved. No specific crime family was formally charged in this case, but one of the main fixers, Salvatore T. Sollazzo, reportedly had known ties to New York’s underworld gambling network.
Point shaving scandal in Boston College men’s basketball
Rick Kuhn (#35) for Boston College men’s basketball during the 1978-1979 season. (Joe Dennehy/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
One of the clearest examples of La Cosa Nostra’s success in sports was the 1978-79 scandal involving Boston College and two associates of the Lucchese crime family. Two partners, Henry Hill and James “Jimmy the Gent” Burke, with the help of Pittsburgh bookmaker Paul Mazzei, paid players thousands of dollars to manipulate game scores to generate betting profits throughout that season. The FBI’s investigation and federal prosecution led to multiple convictions, including Boston College player Rick Kuhn, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Burke was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but Hill avoided direct investigation into the scandal in exchange for cooperating with authorities.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION
Many other illegal sports betting and gambling operations linked to New York crime families have been prosecuted over the years. This year, five members and associates of the Lucchese crime family pleaded guilty to running an illegal online betting operation that collected an estimated $1 million annually over several years of operation. The New York State Attorney General’s Office announced that in 2024, 17 people affiliated with the Gambino family were charged with a sports gambling operation involving over $22 million in illegal bets.
Follow Fox News Digital Sports streaming on Xand subscribe Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
