NBA Coach Billups Pleads Not Guilty To Mafia-linked Gambling

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


Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups pleaded innocent Monday to alleged involvement in Mafia-linked unlawful gaming plans that rocked the NBA, prosecutors said.


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


He was targeted in addition to Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier in an FBI-led investigation into the rip-off that apparently saw players cheated with the use of sophisticated techniques consisting of an X-ray table and barcoded card decks.


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


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


Rozier and a former NBA gamer and assistant coach, Damon Jones, were amongst 6 people detained in a different sports wagering case.


Billups was arraigned on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, to which he pleaded innocent Monday, the Eastern District of New York prosecutors' workplace validated to AFP.


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


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


Prosecutors say Billups's star assisted lure gamers to high-stakes games that utilized "high-tech unfaithful technology."


That tech included shuffling devices that could read cards, concealed cams and barcoded decks.


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


"My preliminary reaction was I was deeply disrupted," Silver said in an interview with Amazon Prime.


"There's nothing more essential for the league and its fans than the stability of the competitors."


Silver revealed regret that the claims had actually taken attention away from the start of the season.


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