In a bombshell announcement that has shaken both the sports world and law enforcement circles, FBI Director Kash Patel revealed Thursday that more than 30 people were arrested across 11 states in connection with a sprawling sports gambling and poker cheating operation—one that allegedly reaches into the NBA itself. Among those arrested were Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.
According to Patel, the massive criminal network had ties to the notorious Italian mafia, including factions of the Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese, and Genovese crime families. The investigation uncovered a sophisticated web of fraud, sports manipulation, and underground poker games — all backed by high-tech cheating devices and inside information from professional athletes.
Federal investigators detailed how members of the ring used technology worthy of a Hollywood thriller. The poker operation employed X-ray tables, wireless relays, and chip tray analyzers to predict winning hands and funnel that information to off-site accomplices.
“They used off-the-shelf shuffling machines that had been secretly altered in order to read the cards in the deck, predict which player at the table had the best poker hand, and relay that information to an off-site operator,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella revealed.
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