- Billups and 30 others appeared in Brooklyn federal court Wednesday for a status hearing tied to an alleged mob-connected poker ring.
- The Trail Blazers coach has been on unpaid leave since his October arrest and is currently residing in the Denver area on $5 million bail.
- Prosecutors are moving toward plea deals with up to 21 defendants, though whether Billups is among them remains unknown.
BROOKLYN - A federal courthouse became the center of attention Wednesday as NBA Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and 30 co-defendants appeared for a status hearing in a case tied to a nationwide rigged poker ring with alleged mob connections.
Eastern District of New York prosecutors are ready to offer formal plea deals to 12 of the 31 defendants in the next few days. At least nine others are currently in separate talks, and the prosecution is confident that those issues will be resolved well before the case is heard in court.
More than two-thirds of all defendants would then settle without ever going to trial. Prosecutors claim that the rigged system, which reportedly used high-tech equipment to defraud victims out of millions of dollars, was centered around states with poker games, including New York and Nevada.
Since his arrest in October, Billups has been on unpaid administrative leave from the Portland Trail Blazers. In November, he entered a not guilty plea to charges of wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. Since then, he has been on a $5 million bond and residing in the Denver region.
Billups allegedly served as a lure in the scheme, assisting in attracting gullible victims into set games in exchange for money, according to the prosecution. After one game in October 2020, Billups supposedly received a $50,000 wire payment.
Since no defendants were named in the most recent court filing, it is still unknown if Billups is being given consideration for a plea deal. Prosecutors claim that poker operations in Illinois and Florida were a part of the larger criminal network they are looking into. There is currently no set date for the trial.