What’s next in the scandal that has ensnared Chauncey Billups

chauncey billups was Seated at the center table of the formal courtroom inside the United States Courthouse in Brooklyn.

Billups, wearing a gray suit entered a plea of ​​not guilty On November 24, on federal charges related to rigging a poker game. Attention of NBA and rest of sports world. He faces charges of money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracyBoth carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

In front of 30 other defendants, Billups, mostly expressionless, sat front and center for more than three hours as Judge Ramon E. Reyes heard arguments on all kinds of procedural and logistical issues, choosing Billups as the face of a trial that included violent criminals, mobsters and members of the criminal underworld with long rap sheets because prosecutors alleged he was a “face card” in a rigged poker game, whose Fame attracted victims to the table.

Billups’ wife, Piper, and three daughters sat two rows behind him. He surveyed the courtroom, then looked toward the gallery of journalists seated to his left who had come to observe and document the proceedings. He paused at the faces he knew Career as a basketball player and head coach of portland trail blazersA legacy now very much in question.

Billups’ only words that day were his plea to the charges against him. His attorney, Mark Mukasey, did not comment upon entering and exiting the courthouse.

It will take a long time for anyone to fully know how Billups allegedly became involved in this scandal and to what extent he was involved. This is a process that may take years.

In the courtroom, the judge granted a protective order on evidence turned over to lawyers in the case — prosecutors say it includes a terabyte of bank records, surveillance photos and other electronic data — and he said he hoped the trial could begin in September.

All 31 defendants in the case are required to appear in that formal courtroom in Brooklyn at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday for a status hearing, as the defendants have a few months to review the evidence in the government’s case.

Mukasey, who represented President Donald Trump during his 2019 trial to block the Manhattan district attorney from obtaining his tax returns, did not respond to messages left by ESPN seeking comment ahead of Wednesday’s hearing.

Ron Naclerio was one of those who appeared in court in November to show support for a man he met nearly three decades ago. The legendary coach of Benjamin Cardozo High in Queens first met Billups when he was a star point guard coming from Colorado and coached him for the 1997 NBA Draft.

“He looked at me, we hugged and I said, ‘I know you’re going through hell, but just keep going,'” Naclerio told ESPN. “Then his lawyer came up to me and thanked me for appearing.”

As Billups and his family left the courtroom, cameras and a crowd of people followed, Billups proceeded to post his $5 million bail.

“It was overwhelming,” Naclerio said. “I mean, it’s obvious that a guy who used to stop by about winning an NBA championship or giving an interview for a Hall of Fame announcement would be bombarded for something like that. I just said, ‘Wow, the bombardment now pales in comparison to his heights.'”

one person billup His friend, the former NBA player and coach, was not talked to or acknowledged at that hearing in November damon jonesWho was convicted in a federal investigation of rigged poker games and illegal gambling pleaded not guilty On both his allegations.

Five years ago they lived together at Billups’ home in Colorado, alone in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Billups’ best friend, Tyronn Lue, who was his chief assistant at the time. LA Clippers and Lew’s cousin, J. Carter. Billups hired a chef who was laid off from a high-end restaurant, asked her to prepare meals for his friends to ease some of the burden on his wife, and the three spent their day watching film of the NBA season that was put on hold, he told ESPN in 2021.

After officially joining Lue’s staff as an assistant in Los Angeles, Billups then said, “All that time was spent talking and studying.” “That’s really why I decided to coach.”

Since retiring as a player in 2014, Billups had worked in broadcasting, first for ESPN and then for the Clippers. He and Lew had been close friends since their teenage years. Lew has not been charged in the federal investigation and has denied any involvement in his public statements on the matter. Jones had played against both during his NBA career and served on Lue’s staff in Cleveland.

During a hearing in November, prosecutors said they were investigating 25 poker games between 2019 and 2023. In the indictment, Billups and Jones are mentioned in allegations regarding two games — in Las Vegas in April 2019 and October 2020 — a year after Billups invited Jones to stay with him in the spring of 2020 and a few months before the second game.

Prosecutors allege that Billups and Jones were both recruited into the games by Robert Stroud, a 67-year-old Kentucky man. Connection to the Gambino crime family. In the indictment, prosecutors alleged that Stroud recruited famous athletes or celebrities “to entice wealthy victims to play” in rigged games, then “paid them a share of the criminal proceeds.”

Stroud, who has also pleaded not guilty, has a long criminal history of violence and gambling, including a murder conviction in a 1994 shooting during a card game in Louisville.

How Stroud recruited them and the extent to which each man allegedly participated are subject to sealed evidence. But evidence from Stroud’s iCloud account included in the initial indictment showed that a $50,000 wire was sent to a 40-year-old Queens woman named Sophie Wei, who then sent the money directly to Billups.

Wei, whom investigators refer to as “Pookie” in their indictment, is a Taiwanese-Brazilian artist with ties to the worlds of music, entertainment and basketball. On her now private Instagram page, Weiss featured musicians Drake, Mary J. Photographed with Blige and Ne-Yo.

He also showcased a commission he did for Kevin Hart and Shaquille O’Neal’s sons, Shakir and Sharif. He also showed off his work at the 2024 NBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis.

Prosecutors allege that Wei was one of the organizers of rigged poker games in New York and Las Vegas. His court-appointed attorney, Jacqueline Cistaro, declined to comment when contacted by ESPN.

sitting behind billups In the courtroom was Eric “Spook” Earnest, 53. His court-appointed attorney was sitting directly behind Billups’ desk.

In their indictment, prosecutors described Earnest and Billups as longtime friends and included text messages from an October 2020 game in which Wei and Stroud discussed the need for Billups and Earnest to intentionally lose a hand to avoid suspicion of cheating.

Wei suggested they bring another member of the hoax team to the table and “beat Chauncey and the Spook out of him.” Stroud agreed with this idea, to which Wei responded in text, “They already know all the signs.”

The “way” in Wei’s text message refers to Billups and Earnest, meaning Investigators believe Billups was not just a famous athlete brought to the table to attract wealthy players to the game, but a member of a cheating team. Who knew the signals they used to cheat, and followed them to defraud victims of millions.

It is unclear when or how Billups and Earnest became friends. Public records show that Ernest lived most of his life in the Greater St. Louis area. Court records indicate that, in October 2007, Earnest pleaded guilty to money laundering charges and conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana as part of a federal investigation of the St. Louis Syndicate associated with the Black Mafia Family – a Detroit-based drug trafficking and money laundering organization led by the Flenory brothers – Demetrius “Big Meech” and Terry “Southwest” – which It has inspired three documentaries produced by Curtis and the Starz television drama, BMF. “50 Cent” Jackson.

Billups, who played seven seasons with detroit pistons (2002–2009), winning the championship in 2004 with Terry Flannery. On April 14, 2021, Flannery – who was released from prison in May 2020 after serving 12 years of a 30-year sentence – posted a photo of himself and Billups posing in front of the Detroit River with the Ambassador Bridge in the background and a caption:

“I was surprised when I woke up this morning to see that my man Big Shot Billups was taping before we both left for work.”

Billups, who was then in his first year as an assistant coach with the Clippers, who defeated the Pistons 100–98 later that night, responded:

“Love always brother. Great times ahead. Best wishes for you.”

On October 30, The Athletic cited a former federal DEA task force officer who said Earnest bragged on wiretaps about his relationships with NBA players and other famous athletes, and identified connections on social media between Earnest’s family and Billups’ family, noting that Billups follows Earnest’s wife and daughter.

Earnest’s attorney, Peter E. Brill, also did not respond to messages left by ESPN.

Earnest reportedly played a key role in the scandal — and her relationship with Billups continued until at least 2023. Before March 24, 2023, games between Chicago Bulls and the Portland Trail Blazers, Billups, who was the team’s head coach at the time, allegedly disseminated non-public information to an individual, who later used it to place a $100,000 bet.

That man was Eric Ernest.

Billups was one The two defendants will be released on bail after posting $5 million bond. The second was Anthony Schneiderman, who prosecutors allege was the primary money launderer in the operation.

Although this was the largest amount of any of the 31 defendants posted for bail, legal experts consulted by ESPN suggested that the amount may have been due to the lenient conditions imposed on his release as well as Billups’ means and notoriety.

Billups used his home in Colorado as collateral for the bond, which was signed in court by his wife and daughter Sydney.

According to sources with direct knowledge of his whereabouts, Billups has been holed up in one of his two Colorado homes for the past several months. In 2007 he purchased a 15,000-square-foot Greenwood Village property, which was used as collateral for his $5 million bond. Shortly after his arrest and indefinite unpaid leave from his head coaching job with the Trail Blazers, he sold his Lake Oswego, Oregon home for $4.275 million.

According to sources close to him, he spends his days quietly hanging out with his family and friends in the Denver area, playing golf, watching games and communicating with a handful of NBA bros. The terms of his release prohibit him from traveling outside the United States and any state or city other than Colorado, California, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington DC or New York City.

The last public image of Billups came as he was leaving the court that afternoon in late November. He walked quickly through a crowd of camera crews along Duane Avenue in Brooklyn. A black Sprinter van was waiting for Billups, his family and a team of lawyers about 400 feet away.

Billups kept his eyes up throughout, showing the poise he is known for as a player.

No one raised questions or slowed down until they reached the van. Billups didn’t make it in until he reached the door. He stopped, turned to the crowd, then waited until his wife and daughters came in.