NEW YORK (AP) — Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones became the first person to plead guilty Tuesday in a gambling sweep that led to the arrests of more than 30 people, including reputed mobsters and other basketball figures.
During back-to-back hearings in Brooklyn federal court, Jones entered guilty pleas to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in what prosecutors say were sports betting and rigged poker game schemes.
Reading a prepared statement to the court after pleading guilty in the sports betting case, he acknowledged that he conspired with others to defraud sports betting companies by using “insider information that I obtained as a result of my relationships as a former player.”
“I would like to sincerely apologize to the court, my family, my peers and also the National Basketball Association,” Jones said.
He said the goal of the sports betting conspiracy, which ran from December 2022 to March 2024, was to use his insider knowledge — which prosecutors say involved nonpublic information about injuries to NBA stars — to make money from sports books.
He acknowledged that his actions violated the NBA’s code of conduct and also the terms of service on sports betting websites.
A ‘face card’ for rigged poker games
During his second hearing, Jones admitted that he was paid to act as a “face card” at poker games in Miami and the Hamptons by using his NBA celebrity to “lure high-end bettors” to the table.
Reading from a statement, Jones said that based on conversations with his co-conspirators before and after the poker games, “I knew these games were rigged and that players were being cheated.”
He apologized to the court, his family, close friends and everyone involved.
“I’m really sorry to everyone involved for my actions,” he said
He and his lawyer, Kenneth Montgomery, declined to comment about the cases as they left the courtroom, with the player saying only, “To God be the glory.”
Jones is due to be sentenced Jan. 6 before Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall in the sports betting case and before Judge Ramon Reyes in the poker games case. In the sports betting case, the sentencing guidelines call for a punishment of 21-27 months in prison. In the poker games case, Jones would face 63-78 months in prison, but prosecutors agreed to subtract 15 months from the sentence in exchange for Jones pleading guilty. That would put his potential sentence at 48-63 months in prison if the judge follows the guidelines.
Jones faces a longer prison sentence in the poker games case in part because it involved more than 10 victims and a loss to them of more than $9.5 million.
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In addition to facing prison time, Jones also agreed to forfeit a total of $73,000 in the two cases.
The first defendant to plead guilty
None of the other defendants have shown a willingness to plead guilty. On Monday, prosecutors said they were seeking additional charges against a co-defendant in the sports betting case, former Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.
Jones’ lawyer, Kenneth Montgomery, declined to comment before Tuesday's hearings.
Jones was arrested last October along with Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups, and others, including a sports bettor accused of cashing in on injury information.
Jones was one of three people charged in both the poker and sports betting schemes.
Originally from Galveston, Texas, Jones earned more than $20 million playing for 10 teams in 11 seasons from 1999 to 2009. He and James played together in Cleveland from 2005 to 2008, and Jones served as an unofficial assistant coach for James’ Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-2023 season.
Prosecutors say Jones sold or attempted to sell nonpublic information to bettors that James and former Lakers forward Anthony Davis were injured and either wouldn’t be playing or would play less time in certain games.
In the poker scheme, prosecutors say Jones was among former NBA players used to lure unwitting gamblers to poker games that were rigged using altered shuffling machines, hidden cameras, special sunglasses and even X-ray equipment built into the table.
According to the indictment, Jones was paid $2,500 for a game in the Hamptons where he was instructed to cheat by paying close attention to others involved in the scheme. When in doubt, Jones was told to fold his hand, prosecutors said.
In response, according to prosecutors, Jones texted: “Y’all know I know what I’m doing!!”
The poker scheme often made use of illegal games that benefited the Gambino, Genovese and Bonanno crime families, who used violence and threats to ensure the repayment of debts and continued success of the operation, prosecutors allege in court documents, noting that the defendants and co-conspirators defrauded the victims out of millions of dollars.
Associated Press reporter Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.
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