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PORTLAND/MIAMI: Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier are among more than 30 people charged in connection with illegal sports betting and rigged poker games tied to organized crime, authorities said on October 23.

According to federal prosecutors, Rozier and others were part of a sports betting scheme that used insider NBA information, while Billups is accused in a separate case involving poker games backed by Mafia families.

The indictment lists nine unnamed co-conspirators, including a Florida-based NBA player, an Oregon resident who played in the league between 1997 and 2014 and became a coach in 2021, and a relative of Rozier.

Both men are well-known in the basketball world. Billups, a five-time NBA All-Star and Hall of Fame inductee, became Portland’s head coach in 2021 and signed a multi-year extension this year. Rozier, drafted in 2015, has played for Boston, Charlotte, and Miami.

Prosecutors allege Rozier and others used private information — such as player injuries or team strategies — to place or assist in bets that could affect the outcome of NBA games. In return, they allegedly received payments or a share of profits.

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said players sometimes altered their performance or left games early to influence bets. In one case, Rozier allegedly told others he would leave a game with a “fake injury” while playing for the Charlotte Hornets, helping his associates win thousands of dollars in wagers.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. called the operation “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since sports betting became legal in much of the U.S.” Six people were accused of a betting conspiracy, which authorities say relied on confidential NBA information to profit illegally.

The second case involves 31 defendants accused of running a nationwide network of underground poker games, mainly in the New York area. Prosecutors say the games were fixed using hidden technology that allowed players to cheat victims out of millions of dollars. Mafia families and former professional athletes allegedly supported the poker network.

Attorney Jim Trusty, representing Rozier, criticized the arrest, saying his client had cooperated with prosecutors. “Instead of allowing him to surrender, they staged a photo op,” he said, calling the arrest a “public embarrassment.”

Federal investigators said the cases involve “tens of millions of dollars” in fraud, theft, and crypto-related schemes. “Everyone will be held accountable,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Raj Patel.

Authorities confirmed that 31 people are in custody, and others are expected to surrender in the coming days.