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(NewsNation) — Former NBA subordinate Damon Jones pleaded not blameworthy to charges helium profited from rigged poker games and gave confidential information to individuals to assistance them cheat astatine sports betting.
Jones, who played 11 seasons successful the NBA, including 4 with LeBron James, is accused of providing nonpublic information astir James and Anthony Davis that led bettors to currency in. Jones earned much than $20 cardinal during his pro hoops career.
His parent and stepfather are putting up their Texas location arsenic collateral for a $200,000 enslaved that volition let him to stay escaped pending trial.
Jones’ lawyer, Kenneth Montgomery, told a justice that they “may beryllium engaging successful plea negotiations.” He is owed backmost successful tribunal for a preliminary league with different defendants Nov. 24. He was among much than 30 radical arrested successful the gambling sweep.
Others included Portland Trail Blazers caput manager and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat defender Terry Rozier.
Among different allegations, prosecutors allege Jones sold oregon attempted to merchantability nonpublic accusation to bettors that James was injured and wouldn’t beryllium playing successful a Feb. 9, 2023, crippled against the Milwaukee Bucks, texting an unnamed co-conspirator: “Get a large stake connected Milwaukee contiguous earlier the accusation is out.”
James wasn’t listed connected the Lakers’ wounded study astatine the clip of the substance message, but the NBA’s all-time scoring person was aboriginal ruled retired of the crippled due to the fact that of a lower-body injury, according to prosecutors, and the Lakers mislaid the crippled 115-106.
In the poker scheme, according to prosecutors, Jones was among erstwhile NBA players utilized to lure unwitting players into poker games that were rigged utilizing altered shuffling machines, hidden cameras, peculiar sunglasses and adjacent X-ray instrumentality built into the table.
According to the indictment, Jones was paid $2,500 for a crippled successful the Hamptons wherever helium was instructed to cheat by paying adjacent attraction to others progressive successful the scheme.
Anthony Ruggiero, Jr., an alleged subordinate of the Gambino transgression family, had his exertion to beryllium released connected a $5 cardinal enslaved successful the rigged poker lawsuit denied by U.S. District Judge Ramon Reyes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
