PORTLAND, OR — Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups was arraigned Oct. 23 on charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Oregon.
Billups was indicted, along with more than 30 people, in the Eastern District of New York for his role in bringing victims to rigged poker games.
Billups appeared in a packed Portland courtroom at 1:30 p.m. wearing a brown sweatshirt and gray pants, only saying “Yes,” when Judge Jolie A. Russo asked if he understood his right to remain silent.
After his eight-minute arraignment, in which he was granted his release on the condition he stay only in Oregon and Colorado, Billups looked around the courtroom and was taken away.
Billups is required to turn over his passport and secure a bond in the Eastern District of New York, where he was originally charged. The judge did not say how much the bond was, only that it was substantial.
He is next due to appear in federal court in New York on Nov. 24. He is prohibited from gambling or contact with other defendants.
“Folks shouldn’t draw any conclusions like this,” said Chris Heywood, Billups’ attorney.
The poker scheme caused losses to the victims of at least $7.15 million, according to court documents. How much Billups earned from the alleged scheme is unclear.
The 49-year-old, a five-time NBA all-star as a player, earned $4.7 million as the head coach of the Blazers in the 2024-2025 season, according to reports.
Billups was arrested early on Oct. 23 at his home in Lake Oswego, according to court documents. The Trail Blazers lost 118-114 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Oct. 22 season opener in Portland.
Billups and former NBA player Damon Jones were identified in the charging documents as “Face Cards” and members of the “Cheating Teams.”
The indictments says the “Face Cards” invited wealthy victims to rigged games and received “a portion of the criminal proceeds in exchange for their participation.”
At the rigged games, people used shuffling machines that were altered to read cards and other technology such as electronic poker chip trays that could read cards, card analyzers in decoy cellphones to detect which cards were on the table, and cards that were only visible to people wearing special sunglasses or contact lenses.
Members of the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families allegedly threatened the organizers of the games and took protection money from them.
Defendants then laundered money from the illegal poker games, according to the indictment.
Billups was part of a game in April 2019 in Las Vegas where victims were defrauded of at least $50,000.
“The fraud is mind-boggling,” FBI director Kash Patel said in an Oct. 23 news conference.
He took his first coaching job as an assistant with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2020 and coached there for one season before being hired as the head coach for the Trail Blazers.
“We are aware of the allegations involving head coach Chauncey Billups, and the Trail Blazers are fully cooperating with the investigation,” according to a statement from the team. “Billups has been placed on immediate leave, and Tiago Splitter will assume head coaching duties in the interim. Any further questions should be directed to the NBA.”
Billups is 117-212 as an NBA head coach. He was starting his fifth year in Portland.