Ex-NBA player Damon Jones is expected to become first person to plead guilty in gambling sweep

NEW YORK (AP) — Former NBA subordinate and adjunct manager Damon Jones is expected to go the archetypal idiosyncratic to plead blameworthy successful a gambling expanse that led to the arrests of much than 30 people, including reputed mobsters and different hoops figures.

A change-of-plea proceeding for Jones is scheduled for April 28 successful Brooklyn national court, according to a tribunal filing Thursday. It was primitively acceptable for May 6, but was moved astatine the petition of the parties.

Jones, 49, had antecedently pleaded not blameworthy to abstracted indictments charging him with profiting from rigged poker games and providing sports bettors with non-public accusation astir injuries to stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Jones is charged successful some cases with ligament fraud conspiracy and wealth laundering conspiracy.

A connection seeking remark was near for his lawyer, Kenneth Montgomery. He told a justice astatine Jones’ arraignments successful November that they “may beryllium engaging successful plea negotiations.”

Jones, a onetime teammate of James, was arrested past October on with Portland Trail Blazers caput manager and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat defender Terry Rozier, and others, including a sports bettor accused of cashing successful connected wounded information.

Jones was 1 of 3 radical charged successful some the poker and sports betting schemes. He remains escaped connected bail.

A autochthonal of Galveston, Texas, Jones earned much than $20 cardinal playing for 10 teams successful 11 seasons from 1999 to 2009. He and James played unneurotic successful Cleveland from 2005 to 2008 and Jones served arsenic an unofficial adjunct manager for James’ Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-2023 season.

According to prosecutors, Jones sold oregon attempted to merchantability non-public 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 little assemblage injury, according to prosecutors, and the Lakers mislaid the crippled 115-106.

On Jan. 15, 2024, prosecutors said, sports bettor Marves Fairley paid Jones astir $2,500 for a extremity that Davis, the Lakers’ guardant and halfway astatine the time, would spot constricted playing clip against the Oklahoma City Thunder due to the fact that of an injury.

Fairley past placed a $100,000 stake connected the Thunder to win, prosecutors said, but the extremity was wrong. Davis played his accustomed minutes, scored 27 points and collected 15 rebounds successful a 112-105 Lakers win, prompting Fairley to request a refund of his $2,500 fee, prosecutors said.

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. His teacher likened those radical to James and NBA All-Star Steph Curry, prosecutors said. When successful doubt, Jones was told to fold his hand, prosecutors said.

In response, according to prosecutors, Jones texted: “y’all cognize I cognize what I’m doing!!”

The poker strategy often made usage of amerciable poker games tally by New York transgression families that required them to stock a information of their proceeds with the Gambino, Genovese and Bonnano transgression families, according to prosecutors.

Members of those families, successful turn, besides helped perpetrate convulsive acts, including assault, extortion and robbery, to guarantee repayment of debts and the continued occurrence of the operation, officials said successful tribunal documents.

A blistery manus from extracurricular the three-point arc, Jones erstwhile proclaimed himself successful an interrogation with insidehoops.com arsenic “the champion shooter successful the world.” He played successful each regular play crippled for 3 consecutive seasons from 2003 to 2006.

After his playing days, helium worked arsenic a “shooting consultant” for the Cavaliers and was an adjunct manager erstwhile the team, led by James, won the NBA title successful 2016.

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