NBA Coach Billups Pleads Innocent To Mafia-linked Gambling

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


Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups pleaded not guilty Monday to alleged participation in Mafia-linked unlawful gaming plans that rocked the NBA, prosecutors said.


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


He was targeted along with Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier in an FBI-led examination into the fraud that apparently saw players cheated with using advanced techniques including an X-ray table and barcoded card decks.


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


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


Rozier and a previous NBA gamer and assistant coach, Damon Jones, were among six people arrested in a separate sports wagering case.


Billups was indicted 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' workplace verified 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 quick hearing in a Brooklyn court on Monday.


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


Prosecutors say Billups's celeb helped entice gamers to games that utilized "modern unfaithful technology."


That tech consisted of shuffling makers that could check out cards, concealed video cameras and barcoded decks.


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


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


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


Silver expressed regret that the accusations had taken attention far from the start of the season.


"I apologize to our fans that we are all handling, now, this situation," Silver stated.