The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has recently unveiled a major crackdown on illegal sports gambling activities involving prominent figures from the National Basketball Association (NBA) as well as notorious organized crime families. On Thursday, FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrest of 34 individuals, including current and former NBA personalities such as Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former NBA player and coach Damon Jones. The arrests are part of a sweeping investigation into two interconnected illegal gambling schemes that have been operating for years, involving both rigged poker games and sports betting fraud.
At a press conference held in New York, Director Patel detailed the scope of the investigation, emphasizing its links to the La Cosa Nostra, a network of New York-based Mafia families known for their deep-rooted involvement in various criminal enterprises. The probe specifically targeted the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese crime families, exposing their role in orchestrating an elaborate fraud that manipulated NBA-related gambling activities. Patel described the case as historic, not only because of the vast sums of money involved but also due to the sophisticated methods of deceit used, which included elements of cryptocurrency fraud.
Among those arrested, Chauncey Billups, a Hall of Famer and former NBA star, was implicated in illegal poker games that were rigged and controlled by Mafia groups. Terry Rozier and Damon Jones were charged in connection with a separate sports betting scheme. The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph Nocella, provided further details, explaining that two separate indictments were filed. One indictment focused on sports betting fraud, while the other dealt with illegal gambling tied to manipulated poker games. According to Nocella, high-tech cheating devices were employed to defraud victims in underground poker games held across multiple locations, including the Hamptons, Las Vegas, Miami, and Manhattan.
Nocella revealed that Billups and Jones were used as "face cards" — prominent figures who attracted unsuspecting victims, or "fish," to participate in poker games alongside former professional athletes. However, the victims were unaware that everyone else involved in these games, from dealers to players, were complicit in the scam. The crime families leveraged their existing control over non-rigged illegal poker games in New York to facilitate the operation. Out of the 34 defendants, 13 are alleged members or associates of the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese families, including high-ranking “capos” and soldiers.
The La Cosa Nostra, also known as the New York Mafia, traces its origins to the Sicilian Mafia and consists of five major families: Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese. Their influence in the United States dates back to the 1920s and extends beyond New York to cities like Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, and the New England region. The Mafia’s involvement in sports gambling schemes is not a new phenomenon; it has a long and notorious history of manipulating sporting events to maximize illegal profits.
One of the earliest examples of Mafia influence in sports dates back to the 1950s and 1960s, when Frank "Frankie" Carbo, a Lucchese family soldier, and his partner Frank "Blinky" Palermo were convicted of extortion and conspiracy related to their control over professional boxing. Their threats and intimidation tactics allowed them to dominate the world welterweight boxing scene, controlling fighters and promotions. These convictions exposed deep-rooted corruption in boxing, eventually leading to reforms such as the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 and the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act of 2000.
Sports gambling scandals involving organized crime also surfaced in college basketball during the mid-20th century. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office uncovered a major point-shaving scandal involving players from several prominent programs, including City College of New York (CCNY) and Long Island University (LIU). Players accepted bribes from gambling syndicates connected to organized crime to deliberately influence game outcomes. The investigation resulted in over 30 indictments and prison sentences for key participants, along with lifetime bans from the NBA for implicated players. Although no specific Mafia family was formally charged in this case, one of the main fixers was believed to have ties to New York’s underworld gambling network.
Another significant case highlighting Mafia involvement in sports gambling occurred during the 1978-79 college