Portland Trail Blazers coach and basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups pleaded not guilty Monday in a Brooklyn federal courthouse to charges of conspiring with the mafia to rig illegal poker games.
Billups was arrested on Oct. 23 and accused of helping to lure players into games where high-tech equipment allegedly was used to cheat them out of millions of dollars.
He pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy at his arraignment in front of U.S. District Judge Ramon Reyes. He faces a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison if convicted.
Billups has been free on bond since his initial court appearance in Oregon last month.
According to prosecutors, Billups served as a celebrity “face card” to help draw wealthy players to poker games in such locations as New York, Las Vegas, Miami and the Hamptons. Hidden cameras, X-ray machines and marked cards allegedly were used to defraud players of an estimated $7 million.
After one crooked poker game in October 2020, for example, prosecutors said Billups received a $50,000 wire from the scheme’s mob-affiliated organizers.
Billups, 49, is in his fifth season coaching the Trail Blazers and currently is suspended without pay. Tiago Splitter is serving as Portland’s interim coach.
Billups played 17 years in the NBA, winning a championship as the Finals MVP with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. The five-time All-Star guard entered the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.
Billups coached the Blazers to a combined 117-211 (.357) record in his first four seasons from 2021-22 to 2024-25.
