BREAKING: CHAUNCEY BILLUPS ARRESTED BY FBI FOR ILLEGAL GAMBLING

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Strenuus said:
Its wild people focus on the rigged poker game but not the actual NBA gambling fixing. Blows my mind they continue to just not take it into consideration for, oh I dont, the NBA job he use to have.
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Remind me how he fixed a game? Was it letting the mob know we were tanking?
 
Strenuus said:
Fixing isnt the right word. Giving privileged information for bettors.

Still indefensible.
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I am just trying to clarify what he did to see if he has any type of defense. I assume it is damaging, but I think I am missing a key piece.
Letting someone know they are sitting a player, a few hours earlier than the rest of us, does not seem to be very privileged. We generally know who is sitting out well before the games start. Was it a late scratch?
 
wizenheimer said:
I think that's a wild assumption. Forget what he's been indicted for in the Poker scandal. Set the wire fraud and money laundering charges aside

you're ignoring that the FBI has wiretap evidence that Billups gave inside information about Portland's injury report to a gambler (unindicted co-conspirator #8). That itself is disqualifying, not only for the Blazers, but for the NBA as well. I'd say it's nearly certain Dundon isn't ever going to bring him back.
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You clipped my post. I was just pointing out that there will be a burden of proof that the team will have to meet if the government doesn't do it for them, in order to get out of paying Chauncey. It's a lower bar than beyond reasonable doubt, it's a preponderance of evidence.

I think if he's found not guilty, the most likely thing to happen will be a buyout. I doubt Chauncey or the team will have any appetite for a drawn out litigation should he be found not guilty. As people have pointed out that is highly unlikely after being indicted at the federal level... something like 10 to 1 odds of being found not guilty.
 
Pinwheel1 said:
I am just trying to clarify what he did to see if he has any type of defense. I assume it is damaging, but I think I am missing a key piece.
Letting someone know they are sitting a player, a few hours earlier than the rest of us, does not seem to be very privileged. We generally know who is sitting out well before the games start. Was it a late scratch?
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I think its more detailed than that, I just cant remember. I do know its very damning, im just at work so cant dig back into it.
 
Pinwheel1 said:
I am just trying to clarify what he did to see if he has any type of defense. I assume it is damaging, but I think I am missing a key piece.
Letting someone know they are sitting a player, a few hours earlier than the rest of us, does not seem to be very privileged. We generally know who is sitting out well before the games start. Was it a late scratch?
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The Blazers had a very nice win in Utah the game before.
Then suddenly Nurkic and Lillard are sitting for the home game against Chicago which they lost 124 to 96.
 
blazerfan11 said:
The Blazers had a very nice win in Utah the game before.
Then suddenly Nurkic and Lillard are sitting for the home game against Chicago which they lost 124 to 96.
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Ugh ugh, the blazers just had a nice win in utah. If splitter sits dame we will know he is on the take as well...
 
blazerkor said:
You clipped my post. I was just pointing out that there will be a burden of proof that the team will have to meet if the government doesn't do it for them, in order to get out of paying Chauncey. It's a lower bar than beyond reasonable doubt, it's a preponderance of evidence.

I think if he's found not guilty, the most likely thing to happen will be a buyout. I doubt Chauncey or the team will have any appetite for a drawn out litigation should he be found not guilty. As people have pointed out that is highly unlikely after being indicted at the federal level... something like 10 to 1 odds of being found not guilty.
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as I understand it his salary will be going into an escrow account until the dust settles....but, I'd be willing to bet that the morals clause of his contract includes language about giving inside information about Blazer injuries to a gambler
 
wizenheimer said:
as I understand it his salary will be going into an escrow account until the dust settles....but, I'd be willing to bet that the morals clause of his contract includes language about giving inside information about Blazer injuries to a gambler
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I thought CB's contract wasn't in escrow, but the guy who is in the NBA now has his salary in escrow. I thought the implication was that CB was not getting the money.
 
blazerkor said:
You clipped my post. I was just pointing out that there will be a burden of proof that the team will have to meet if the government doesn't do it for them, in order to get out of paying Chauncey. It's a lower bar than beyond reasonable doubt, it's a preponderance of evidence.

I think if he's found not guilty, the most likely thing to happen will be a buyout. I doubt Chauncey or the team will have any appetite for a drawn out litigation should he be found not guilty. As people have pointed out that is highly unlikely after being indicted at the federal level... something like 10 to 1 odds of being found not guilty.
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The Blazers don't have to provide a preponderance of evidence. Your mixing up legal terms.

Solely being arrested itself may be enough for the Blazers to get out of paying Chauncey. Do you see NBA head coaches normally arrested by the FBI?

His legal case with the government is separate from the Blazers having to pay his contract.

Most likely either case will ultimately be settled far earlier than a trial.
 
wizenheimer said:
as I understand it his salary will be going into an escrow account until the dust settles....but, I'd be willing to bet that the morals clause of his contract includes language about giving inside information about Blazer injuries to a gambler
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I highly doubt that. The morals clause wouldn't normally be so detailed nor so specific.
 
julius said:
I thought CB's contract wasn't in escrow, but the guy who is in the NBA now has his salary in escrow. I thought the implication was that CB was not getting the money.
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CB salary is in escrow too. Anything different would be very unusual and possibly hurt the Blazers position until a resolution is finalized.

SharpesTriumph

Thread 'Billups won't be paid while on leave'

www.espn.com

Sources: Rozier, Billups won't be paid on leave

Heat guard Terry Rozier and Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups will not be paid while on leaves of absence from their teams, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

"Sources: Rozier, Billups won't be paid while on leave"

"Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups will not be paid while on leaves of absence from their teams because of federal charges related to gambling, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania.

Both of their paychecks are expected to be withheld and placed in escrow, pending the outcome of FBI cases, per sources.

Rozier's salary is about $26.6 million this season, paid in installments.

If Rozier is cleared and...
 
tlongII said:
Paywall.
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Spook liked to brag.

He brushed shoulders with some of the biggest names in the NBA, he said. He jetted to Sin City routinely to gamble with them. He shot dice with players in hotel rooms.

Thomas Sawyer, a Drug Enforcement Administration task force officer, heard Eric “Spook” Earnest boast about his connections to NBA players and other famous athletes during four months of wiretaps while dismantling a St. Louis drug ring nearly 20 years ago. At the time, he dismissed it as false bravado.

“We all thought he was full of s—,” Sawyer recalled of Earnest’s frequent name-dropping.

With ties to the Black Mafia Family and a spate of prior felony convictions, Earnest, 53, was well-known to law enforcement throughout the early aughts. But his connection to the NBA burst into public view last week after he was named in two federal gambling indictments involving an insider sports betting scheme and rigged, illegal poker games. He is one of only three individuals named in both indictments, and the Justice Department highlighted his close relationship with Hall of Fame player and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, 49, who was charged in one of the indictments and matches the description of an unnamed co-conspirator in another.

Sawyer, now retired, got news of the indictments and thought back to Earnest’s name-dropping on the wiretaps. He declined to name the athletes, which he said included boxers and others outside the NBA, as he did not want to implicate individuals not involved in wrongdoing. “(But) every one of them was a very well-noted athlete,” he said. “High-profile athletes, about as high as you can get.”

Court records, business filings and social media portray Earnest as a well-connected, charming St. Louis resident, a father and husband, someone rooted in the hip-hop and R&B scene — but continually running afoul of law enforcement. Exactly how he got connected to NBA players and other athletes isn’t clear, but his presence in high-stakes dice and card games, and his ties to the music industry, may have provided an entry. The Justice Department stated that he and Billups were longtime friends, participating in an illegal, rigged poker game together a mere two months after Earnest was released from custody in 2019.

At the time of the St. Louis wiretaps, Billups was one of the NBA’s rising stars. He won NBA Finals MVP in 2004 while leading the Detroit Pistons to their first championship since 1990 and made his first All-Star team in 2006. He had built himself into one of the game’s great two-way players. Earnest has been an accused felon since he was 17. He pleaded guilty or was found guilty on five felony charges, including commercial burglary and theft in 1991 and 1992, and was sent to state prison in Arkansas. In 1995, he was charged with robbing a post office. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison.

In 2005, a DEA task force started to investigate a drug trafficking organization with strong ties to the Black Mafia Family (BMF), a nationwide drug trafficking organization. Part of the investigation pointed the agents in the direction of St. Louis, where the drug syndicate appeared to be trafficking voluminous amounts of narcotics.


Court records describe Earnest as a “close associate” of Dionne “Cuffy” Gatling, a prominent figure of BMF, and wiretaps revealed Earnest’s involvement in a multi-state drug-trafficking conspiracy. One confidential informant told detectives that Earnest averaged cocaine sales of 20 kg per week.

The wiretap provided a window into other parts of his life, too. He and his crew gambled a lot. They rigged neighborhood dice games. He frequented clubs and was fun to be around. “If they weren’t dealing dope, they were gambling,” said Sawyer.

In October 2007, Earnest pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana, as well as conspiracy to launder money. He was sentenced to 151 months in prison.

While on bond in the drug distribution case, Earnest tended to his music business, Triple E Promotions. He was granted permission to travel to promote shows in Cleveland and a performance by rapper Plies in Houston.

Earnest was released from federal custody in February 2019, according to the Bureau of Prisons. At the time, Billups was out of the NBA. Two months later, in April, according to the indictment, there was a rigged poker game in Las Vegas where Billups and Earnest were present, with Billups acting as described as a “Face Card,” used to attract high-net-worth individuals.

“Spook and Chauncey hit 2 gutshot on the river against the same guy … both calls were over 30k,” texted one participant in the scheme, according to a detention order submitted by the government. “So I was thinking maybe instead of u playing we let let one of the middle eastern guy play…and whenever he got the winning hand Chauncey and/ spook lose to him…”

That Earnest and Billups connected for the alleged poker scheme only two months after Earnest was released from custody could suggest that their relationship began earlier.

On social media, Billups is seen in photos with Terry Lee Flenory, one of the founders of the Black Mafia Family. A comment from Billups’ account reads, “Always love bro. Great times ahead. Happy for u…” That post came in 2021, the year Billups was hired as Portland’s head coach.

On Instagram, Billups follows Earnest’s wife and daughter. Billups’ wife, Piper, also follows Earnest’s daughter. One of Billups’ daughters and one of Earnest’s daughters, who both participated in dance competitions, follow one another.

The Justice Department alleges that the friendship between the two men also included the alleged trading of insider information. Between December 2022 and March 2024, prosecutors allege that Earnest received and passed along non-public information from “a long-time friend” and NBA coach who is not named in the indictment, but identifying details match those of Billups. Earnest is also alleged to have received such information from former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones. In turn, Earnest would allegedly sell the information to co-defendant Marves Fairley to place bets.

Before the Blazers played the Chicago Bulls on March 24, 2023, a co-conspirator with descriptions matching Billups, told Earnest that the Blazers were going to be tanking. Earnest gave the information to Fairley, so he could bet on the game and share the proceeds.

“As alleged, the defendants turned professional basketball into a criminal betting operation, using private locker room and medical information to enrich themselves and cheat legitimate sportsbooks,” the DOJ said in a press release.

Earnest’s federal defender declined to comment. Billups’ lawyer did not answer a request for comment.

Said Sawyer: “To be close enough to get that kind of information, pretty impressive for old Spook.”
 
SharpesTriumph said:
The Blazers don't have to provide a preponderance of evidence. Your mixing up legal terms.

Solely being arrested itself may be enough for the Blazers to get out of paying Chauncey. Do you see NBA head coaches normally arrested by the FBI?

His legal case with the government is separate from the Blazers having to pay his contract.

Most likely either case will ultimately be settled far earlier than a trial.
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All they need is a private investigation, I bet. And Billups has civil case recourse, or mediation.
 
Didn’t we used to get in trouble for sharing an article you had to pay for on here. I remember getting DMs about not doing it? Thanks regardless!
 
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RR7 said:
If I pay for it, does it count? Meh, if I get told not to, am happy to NOT PM people with articles I have access to.
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No, I think it’s great! It must’ve been way long time ago, I was sharing my Espn insider articles, and somebody got on me for it. That was a long time ago though…..keep up the good work. I love it.
 
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THE HCP said:
No, I think it’s great! It must’ve been way long time ago, I was sharing my Espn insider articles, and somebody got on me for it. That was a long time ago though…..keep up the good work. I love it.
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The problem for us is if ESPN/whoever demands we take down their content. Or sues us - we don’t want that…. We’d have to search every thread for offending posts and deal with them.

You can claim “fair use” but it still wouldn’t be worth fighting that battle in court.

I like the archive.is link idea.
 
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