Portland Trail Blazers coach pleads not guilty in rigged poker games case

The Associated Press

November 24, 2025 / 1:28 pm

NEW YORK — Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he profited from rigged poker games involving several Mafia figures and at least one other ex-NBA player.

Billups, a five-time All Star who won a championship with the Detroit Pistons, was arraigned in a federal court in Brooklyn on money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy charges, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors say he was involving a scheme to rig mob-backed illegal poker games in Manhattan, Las Vegas, Miami and the Hamptons. Others face charges of running an illegal gambling bu

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