Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former NBA guard and coach Damon Jones were among 31 people arrested Thursday in a sweeping FBI investigation, Fox News Digital confirmed.
Officials said the indictments were linked to sports betting and illegal gambling involving poker games. The probe is tied to an ongoing investigation into members of the La Cosa Nostra crime families.
“Day in and day out, this FBI is following the money — and today is the result of that outstanding work,” FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement. “This operation involved an expansive effort across 11 states arresting 31 subjects, including multiple NBA players and coaches, who allegedly took advantage of their own positions of power to rig gambling systems for their own benefit — eventually funneling money to La Cosa Nostra, enriching some of the most notorious criminal networks in the world. That ends today — and the FBI’s efforts to make sure gambling operations of all kinds stay within the law are only beginning. Thank you to the outstanding men and women of the FBI who pursued this case and followed the facts accordingly.”
From Fox News:
The FBI said that the proceeds of the activity were allegedly laundered by members of the ring and at some points were converted into cryptocurrency to avoid being detected by law enforcement.
The FBI said a confidential source recorded more than 3,000 phone calls and meetings with the targets of its investigation. The source introduced undercover agents to the targets and participated in a rigged poker game.
Officials said the poker games involved cheating devices such as rigged shuffling devices.
The operation overlapped with a separate investigation, dubbed Nothing But Bet, involving a probe into fixed NCAA basketball games. The FBI said the ring included current and former NBA players.
Rozier did not play during the Miami Heat’s game Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic, while Billups was seen on the sidelines for the Trail Blazers against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Billups, a Hall of Famer and NBA champion with the Detroit Pistons, played 17 years in the league and was a five-time All-Star.
Rozier’s arrest was tied to NBA gambling, and Billups’ arrest was tied to poker, Fox News Digital confirmed.
Federal authorities said the case — dubbed Operation Zhen Diagram — uncovered a nationwide gambling ring allegedly involving La Cosa Nostra members who defrauded victims out of millions of dollars.
Watch the clip below:
FBI Director Patel: “Individuals such as Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier were taken into custody today, former and current NBA players and coaches. This is an illegal gambling operation and sports rigging operation that spanned the course of years.” pic.twitter.com/2p277QG2iT
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) October 23, 2025
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🚨 DEVELOPING: NBA legend Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat’s Terry Rozier arrested in FBI gambling probe pic.twitter.com/unjE9dr0w8
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 23, 2025
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