The head coach of an National Basketball Association (NBA) team, a basketballer athlete and members of the alleged crime families were part of more than thirty people arrested in an FBI crackdown on illegal sports betting and rigged poker games.
Chauncey Billups, the head coach of Portland Trail Blazers and Terrry Rozier a Miami Heat point guard were part of the 34 people arrested and charged by the FBI on Thursday.
Both NBA members were implicated in seperate but related cases involving rigged pokwe games that were backed by the Mafia.
FBI Director Kash Patel revealed this in a press conference held in New York on Thursday adding that many former professional athletes were involved in the nationwide scheme.
The investigations included alleged illegal and rigged gambling activities in which the perpetrators used special technology including contact lenses to read cards, manipulate shuffles, and communicate with others
In one case, NBA player Terry Rozier is suspected to have feigned an injury during a game, information he is alleged to have passed on before the game started.
New York City police commissioner Jessica Tisch and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella also spoke at the joint press conference revealing details in the case.
The NBA reacting to the arrests in a statement said it was fully cooperating with investigations.
"Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities.
We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.” it said.
The BBC has published a statement from Attorney James Trusty representing NBA star Rozier denying the allegations and saying Rozier will fight the charges.
In the statement, he questioned the motive of the FBI saying that the agency "opted for a photo op."
"It is unfortunate that instead of allowing him to self surrender they opted for a photo op.
They wanted the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk. That tells you a lot about the motivations in this case". the statement read.
Some other athletes who were indicted in the FBI investigation include:
Eric Earnest: also known as "Spook"
Marves Fairley: also known as "Vez", "Vezino" and "Vezino Locks"
Shane Hennen: also known as "Sugar"
Damon Jones: alson known as "D Jones" and "Dee Jones"
Deniro Laster: also known as "Niro", "Payso" and "Peso"
Terry Rozier: also known as "Scary Terry" and "Chum"
Nelson Alvarez: also known as "Spanish G"
Ammar Awawdeh: also known as "Flapper Poker" and "Flappy"
Matthew Daddino: also known as "The Wrestler"
The National Basketball Players Association representing current professional basketball players has reacted to news of the indictments calling for "due process".
“The integrity of the game is paramount to NBA players, but so is the presumption of innocence, and both are hindered when player popularity is misused to gain attention," a spokesperson said to the BBC.
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