NBA Coach Billups Pleads Not Guilty To Mafia-linked Gambling

Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested in connection with rigged illegal poker games


Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups pleaded not guilty Monday to declared involvement in Mafia-linked unlawful gaming schemes that rocked the NBA, district attorneys stated.


Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and NBA Hall of Famer, was apprehended in connection with rigged unlawful poker video games tied to Mafia criminal activity households.


He was targeted along with Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier in an FBI-led investigation into the fraud that presumably saw players cheated with making use of advanced methods including an X-ray table and barcoded card decks.


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


Rozier and Billups were positioned on indefinite leave by the NBA after being detained in the betting investigation.


Rozier and a previous NBA player and assistant coach, Damon Jones, were among 6 people arrested in a separate sports betting case.


Billups was arraigned on charges of conspiracy to commit wire scams and money laundering, to which he pleaded not guilty Monday, the Eastern District of New york city district attorneys' to AFP.


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


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


Prosecutors state Billups's celebrity assisted tempt players to high-stakes games that utilized "state-of-the-art unfaithful technology."


That tech included shuffling machines that might check out cards, hidden video cameras and barcoded decks.


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


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


"There's absolutely nothing more crucial for the league and its fans than the integrity of the competition."


Silver expressed remorse that the claims had actually taken attention far from the start of the season.


"I say sorry to our fans that we are all handling, now, this circumstance," Silver stated.