Portland Trial Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was courtside in Brooklyn on Monday, but not at the Barclays Center to lead his team against the Nets.
Billups, 49, appeared at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to plead not guilty to charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
He is one a group of 31 defendants that includes current and former NBA players and reputed organized crime associates accused of running insider betting and illegal gambling operations with tentacles reaching into high-stakes poker games and professional basketball games, prosecutors allege.
After entering his pleas before U.S. District Judge Ramon Reyes, Billups, who has been placed on leave while his case was pending, was released on a $5 million bond signed by his wife and his daughter, with his Colorado home put up as collateral.
Reyes ordered Billups, who appeared in court with a salt-and-pepper chinstrap beard and wearing a dark gray suit, to report to authorities any transactions exceeding $25,000, except for his legal fees.
Reyes also reminded Billups that, while the conditions of his bail allow him to travel throughout much of the continental U.S., failing to appear in court for scheduled appearances could result in the revocation of his bond.
“Do you understand?” Reyes asked the former Detroit Pistons point guard.
“I do,” Billups responded. If convicted of the charges, Billups could face up to 20 years in prison.
Billups did not answer reporters’ questions as he left the courthouse. His next scheduled appearance is in March. His legal team includes Mukasey Young founder Marc Mukasey, a former chief for the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York; and Mukasey Young attorneys Lacey Young and Michael Westfal.
Mukasey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Billups’ long list of codefendants in the sweeping federal takedown includes Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers guard Damon Jones, as well as reputed associates of the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families.
Both Jones and Rozier have pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors say the defendants took part in two illegal gambling schemes, one involving rigged poker games.
In that operation, Billups, Rozier and Jones worked as “face cards,” or celebrity backers recruited to give the scheme a sheen of legitimacy.
Meanwhile, operators with alleged ties with organized crime used high-tech cheating methods to fleece victims, including shuffling machines, X-ray tables and specialized contact lenses. Reputed wiseguys also allegedly helped coordinate the events, enforced debt collection and took a cut of the rake.
The defendants’ second alleged scheme, according to prosecutors, involved the dissemination of confidential information about NBA players used to place bets with online sportsbooks. That insider information included reports of when certain players would be sitting out future games or leaving games early.
Prosecutors allege that the co-conspirators obtained non-public information about players through a networks of contacts that include players and coaches — as well as threats against players over unpaid gambling debts.
On Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gibaldi told Reyes that some of the defendants have entered into plea negotiations with the government but did not name them. In court papers, prosecutors said that a number of defendants have “begun productive discussions that the government hopes will ultimately lead to resolutions as to several defendants without the need for a trial.”
