Chauncey Billups arrested by FBI on illegal gambling charges

Billups was arrested at his home early Thursday.

Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups was arrested. (Photo: Naji Saker)

Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups was arrested early Thursday in connection with a federal gambling-related investigation.

The FBI arrested Billups at his home as part of coordinated arrests across nine states.

Law enforcement called one of the investigations “Operation Royal Flush.”

The other “Operation Zen Diagram.”

The US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn and the FBI held a news conference. The illegal gambling allegedly has ties to organized crime in New York.

Billups was used as a “face card” to lure “fish” into illegal and rigged poker games, per US attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr.. He said the games were a “scam” and victims were fleeced using cheating technologies.

X-ray tables were used to scan playing cards. Other cheating mechanisms included special glasses for reading cards and card-shuffling machines that were rigged, per the indictments.

“Your winning streak has ended. Your luck has run out... You can bet on that,” Nocella Jr. said.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Billups was used to make the rigged poker games appear legitimate. There were more than $7 million in losses.

US attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. speaks at the news conference.

Former NBA player Damon Jones has also been arrested in Las Vegas. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was also taken into custody.

“This is the insider-trading saga for the NBA,” Kash Patel, head of the FBI, said.

The NBA had no comment. There’s a column out there about the perils of mixing gambling and sports. The NBA has sponsorships with several sports-wagering entities. The league has investigated Rozier previously.

Members and associates of organized crime groups are also among the 34 individuals who face criminal charges in two separate illegal gambling-related cases, according to NBC News.

I’ll have a column on the Billups arrest and more details, but it’s shocking news on the morning after Portland’s season-opening loss to Minnesota.

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