New York man charged in betting scandal that led to ex-Raptor Jontay Porter's NBA ban
The first known criminal consequence of the NBA's lifelong ban on Jontay Porter stems from a sports betting case involving a man from New York, who was indicted on Tuesday.
The court lawsuit does not name Porter, but the details regarding "Player 1" are identical to what happened to the former Toronto Raptors star last spring. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn declined to comment on Porter's status as a subject of an investigation.
But according to Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, "Player 1" and the accused accomplices took part "in a brazen, illegal betting scheme that had a corrupting influence on two games and numerous bets."
"Whether on the court or in the casino, every point matters," Peace said in a statement.
The player allegedly spoke with the defendant Long Phi Pham and other unnamed alleged defendants personally, according to the lawsuit.
The player allegedly asked Pham and the others if they had deleted "all the stuff" from their phones and threatened them that they "might just get hit w a rico" (a apparent reference to the common acronym for a federal racketeering charge) via an encrypted messaging app on April 4, following the NBA and others' spring investigation.
NEW: Banned NBA player Jontay Porter warned his partners in a scheme to rig “prop” bets that “we might just get hit with a RICO,” new court papers show.
— Ben Kochman (@benkochman) June 4, 2024
A Brooklyn man, Long Phi Pham, has been arrested. Feds are looking for 3 more.
@wojespn @Kyle_Schnitzer pic.twitter.com/HlkP5JnWO5
Porter's most recent contact details were not immediately available.
As per the complaint, the player was urged to settle his "significant gambling debts" with one of the accused conspirators by performing a "special" which involved intentionally withdrawing from games. This allowed those who were aware of the situation to profit from bets on the player's potential underperformance.
It says the player went on to tell Pham and another defendant that he planned to take himself out of a Jan. 26 game early, claiming injury. He had reported hurting an eye in another game four days earlier but was not on the injured list.
"If I don't do a special with your terms. Then it's up. And u hate me and if I don't get u 8k by Friday you're coming to Toronto to beat me up," the player said in an encrypted message early this year, according to the complaint.
NBA advocates for federal regulatory gambling framework in wake of Porter ban
"The fact that we were able to look at certain irregularities in betting lines, and the data that we were able to receive from our partners allowed this to come into the light," said Tatum during a video conference call with reporters. "We've always been, again, an advocate for a federal regulatory framework here.
"I think it creates transparency that we didn't have previously, which allows us to maintain the integrity of the sport, which is essential to all sports leagues."
With the exception of sports lotteries in Oregon, Delaware, and Montana and licensed sports pools in Nevada, sports gambling was essentially outlawed in the United States in 1992 when the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act went into force.
Because PASPA violates the 10th Amendment, the state of New Jersey successfully challenged it in court, and the U.S. Supreme Court overturned it in May 2018.
Currently, 37 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico allow sports betting in one form or another.
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