Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA star and coach Chauncey Billups were arrested on Thursday in connection with an FBI gambling-related probe, prosecutors said. Thirty-four persons were indicted and at least three organized crime families were involved, officials said.
Meanwhile, former Cleveland Cavaliers player and assistant coach Damon Jones was also arrested Thursday, accused of providing inside information about games to co-defendants who used the knowledge to place sports bets.
‘Justice is blind’
Update 10:48 a.m. ET March 23: FBI director Kash Patel told reporters that “It’s not popular to go after some of the defendants we went after today.”
“Justice is blind,” he said.
Operation Royal Flush
Update 10:40 a.m. ET March 23: According to the indictment, Damon Jones sold or tried to profit from inside information so that others could bet on it, including Eric Earnest and Marves Fairley.
The information detailed who would not be playing or if they would pull themselves out of games early.
Before the Feb. 9, 2023, Los Angeles Lakers game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Jones texted an unnamed co-conspirator that a player was out and they should bet the Bucks. He also gave information on the 2023-24 Lakers including a player dubbed “Player 4,” who the Justice Department said was one of the Lakers’ best players that season.
That player had not been listed on the injury report.
According to The Athletic, Lakers star LeBron James did not play in that Feb. 9 game. He was ruled out due to ankle soreness. Two days earlier, James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
34 defendants listed in 2 indictments
Update 10:36 a.m. ET, March 23: The two indictments list 34 defendants, according to Christopher Raia, the assistant director of the FBI’s New York Field Office.
Thirteen members of the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families were indicted in Operation Royal Flush. Members of the Lucchese crime family were also allegedly involved.
‘The fraud is mind-boggling’
Update 10:12 a.m. ET, Oct. 23: During a news conference on Thursday, FBI director Kash Patel confirmed that Rozier, Billups and Jones were among 34 people arrested in two separate gambling probes that covered 11 states.
“The fraud is mind-boggling,” Patel said.“We’re talking tens of millions of dollars in theft and fraud and robbery.”
According to the indictment, one unnamed co-conspirator told a co-defendant, Eric Earnest, that the Trail Blazers were tanking ahead of a March 24, 2023, game and that a certain player would sit out.
Earnest then shared that information with Marves Fairley, who shared it further and bet on it.
According to Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Fairley and Shane Hennen bet approximately $100,000 on the 2023 game.
Nocella added that the high-stakes poker games involved the Gambino, Bonanno and Genovese organized crime families in New York.
Original report: Rozier, 31, a 10-year NBA veteran, was arrested early Thursday at a hotel in Orlando, Florida. The Heat lost on Wednesday to the Orlando Magic, but Rozier did not play.
Rozier will appear in court in Orlando, while Billups will appear in a Portland court. Both will be arraigned in New York at a later date, said John Marzulli, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Rozier’s agent, Aaron Turner, confirmed Rozier was arrested in relation to the federal probe.
Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, said prosecutors changed their approach to the player.
“They characterized Terry as a subject, not a target, but at 6 a.m. this morning they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel. It is unfortunate that instead of allowing him to self-surrender they opted for a photo op,” Trusty said. “They wanted the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk.
“That tells you a lot about the motivations in this case. They appear to be taking the word of spectacularly incredible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing.”
Billups, 49, a Hall of Famer who played in the NBA for seven teams during his 17-season career, has been the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers since the 2021-22 season. It was unclear where he was arrested, but the team played in Portland, Oregon, losing to Minnesota in its season opener on Wednesday.
His arrest was separate from Rozier’s.
Sources told ABC News that Billups was arrested in Oregon.
FBI director Kash Patel and other law enforcement officials, including those from the Department of Justice and the Eastern District of New York, were expected to provide more information at a news conference later Thursday.
According to a news release, the announcement of indictments will detail “numerous arrests in illegal sports betting and poker game schemes.”
The NBA had no immediate comment. The league is still looking into the actions of former Detroit guard Malik Beasley, a source told The Associated Press.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is among six people charged Thursday with turning professional basketball into a criminal gambling operation by using inside information to place unlawful wagers, law enforcement sources have told @ABC News.
— ABC News (@ABC) October 23, 2025
Read more: https://t.co/owuztpCF25 pic.twitter.com/eRj1LD7vwP
Rozier played with the Charlotte Hornets for five seasons before he was traded to the Heat in January 2024. He is in the final season of a four-year, $96.3 million contract he signed with Charlotte in August 2021.
Sportsbooks in multiple states flagged suspicious betting interest on Rozier’s statistics ahead of a March 23, 2023, game between the Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans, ESPN reported.
A surge of bets -- including 30 wagers in 46 minutes from a professional bettor totaling $13,759 -- came in on the under on Rozier’s points, rebounds and assists, causing sportsbooks to halt betting.
Rozier played just 10 minutes before he left the game, citing a foot injury.
Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups has been arrested by the FBI for alleged illegal gambling, sources tell ESPN.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 23, 2025
Known during his career as “Mr. Big Shot,” Billups was a five-time All-Star during his playing career and led the Detroit Pistons to an NBA title in 2004. He was named MVP in the NBA Finals that season.
Billups was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.
Law enforcement officials said that Billups’ arrest was centered around an illegal poker operation tied to organized crime.
Billups was the Boston Celtics’ top pick and the No. 3 overall draft choice in 1997. Rozier was also a first-round pick of the Celtics, as Boston drafted him 16th overall in the 2015 NBA draft.
Jones, 49, played in the NBA for 10 teams from 1998 to 2009. He was a Cavaliers assistant from 2016 to 2018.
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