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Ex-NBA Insider Damon Jones Pleads Guilty to $10 Million Betting Fraud

4/29/2026

Summary

Damon Jones Guilty

Damon Jones pleaded guilty in Brooklyn on April 28, 2026 to two wire-fraud conspiracy counts.
He texted a co-conspirator on Feb 9, 2023 to bet on Milwaukee after learning LeBron James would sit out.
He also supplied non-public injury info on Anthony Davis for a Jan 15, 2024 game, generating over $10 million in illicit gains.
Jones will forfeit $73,000, face up to 78 months in prison for the schemes, and be sentenced Jan. 6, 2027.

Summary

Billups Charged

The indictment alleges three New York Mafia families financed underground poker games tied to the NBA gambling probe and charges Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups with operating the mafia-backed ring.
Prosecutors say the rigged tables used modified shuffling machines, hidden cameras, special sunglasses and X-ray equipment.
Authorities are pursuing bribery and honest-services wire-fraud charges against former Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier for planning early exits to aid bettors.

History

Historical Context

After the 1919 Black Sox scandal—when eight Chicago White Sox players accepted $100,000 from gambler Joseph “Sport” Sullivan and were banned for life by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis—sports leagues tightened anti-gambling rules. The 2026 Brooklyn wire-fraud case, implicating former NBA guard Terry Rozier, Damon Jones and Chauncey Billups in a mafia-backed betting ring, echoes those historic bans and prompts renewed federal scrutiny.

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Damon Jones Guilty

Damon Jones pleaded guilty in Brooklyn on April 28, 2026 to two wire-fraud conspiracy counts.
He texted a co-conspirator on Feb 9, 2023 to bet on Milwaukee after learning LeBron James would sit out.
He also supplied non-public injury info on Anthony Davis for a Jan 15, 2024 game, generating over $10 million in illicit gains.
Jones will forfeit $73,000, face up to 78 months in prison for the schemes, and be sentenced Jan. 6, 2027.

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