BOSTON — Former Boston Celtics Chauncey Billups, Damon Jones and Terry Rozier were among those set to appear in federal courts across the country on Thursday after being charged in what FBI officials said was a years-long gambling investigation that involved current and former NBA players, and the "capos and soldiers" of the notorious Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese and Genovese crime families.
In details that even federal officials admitted sound like they were ripped from a Hollywood film in a bygone era, Billups is accused of taking part in illegal, rigged poker games that cost victims more than $7 million, and Rozier is accused of providing inside information to professional gamblers so they could wager on so-called "prop bets" — including the "under" on points scored in a game he left after playing less than 10 minutes.
"The fraud is mind-boggling," FBI Director Kash Patel said during a Thursday news conference. "It's not thousands of dollars. It's not tens of thousands of dollars. It's not even millions of dollars. We're talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud, and theft, and robbery across a multi-year investigation."
Billups, who was drafted by the Celtics with the No. 3 pick in the 1997 draft and was traded during his rookie year, was set to appear in a Portland, Oregon, federal court. He won an NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, and is the current coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Rozier, who was Boston's first-round pick in 2015 and played on the Celtics team that reached Game 7 of the 2018 Eastern Conference finals, was arrested in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday morning and was set to appear in an Orlando federal court to face corruption charges. He currently plays for the Miami Heat.
The NBA announced early Thursday afternoon that both Billups and Rozier were "immediately placed on leave from their respective teams."
"We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness," the NBA said, "and the integrity of our game remains our utmost priority."
Federal officials said Billups, Rozier and Jones, who briefly played for the Celtics in 1999, were among 31 arrested nationwide on Thursday in separate probes dubbed "Operation Royal Flush" and "Operation Nothing But Net."
FBI officials accused Rozier of telling professional gamblers that he was going to leave a 2023 game early, resulting in more than $200,000 in prop bet wagers in a game that Rozier only played nine minutes.
The Massachusetts-based DraftKings online betting platform on Thursday issued a statement, saying: "Game integrity and responsible play are priorities for everyone at DraftKings. We fundamentally believe that regulated online sports betting is the best way forward to monitor for and detect suspicious behavior while offering consumer protections backed by advanced technology, neither of which exists in the pervasive illegal market.
"While regulation cannot eliminate all concerns related to game integrity, it significantly reduces risks by enabling collaboration between operators, leagues, teams, and relevant authorities to identify and hold accountable anyone engaged in illegal behavior. We know our fans value the authenticity of competition, and we take the responsibility of reporting suspicious activity seriously. As a proud partner of the NBA, DraftKings remains committed to working closely with the league to ensure the continued integrity of the game."
Some of the details of the rigged poker games released involved the use of rigged card-shuffling machines and utilized high-tech methods of fixing that included hidden cameras, special contact lenses and glasses that could read marked cards, and X-ray poker tables that could read cards face down, with information sent to an off-site "quarterback" to inform betting decisions.
Rozier was a member of the Charlotte Hornets at the time of the accused gambling fraud.
"Terry was cleared by the NBA and these prosecutors revived that non-case," James Trusty, Rozier's lawyer, said in a statement. "Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight."
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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza. )