Months after The NBA has banned Toronto Raptors forward Joday Porter for life for gambling, and court documents show he will be charged with a federal felony related to the allegations against him. The Associated Press reports that federal prosecutors in Brooklyn filed a criminal information sheet Tuesday suggesting Porter could be charged. The paperwork is related to another case in which four men, charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, hoped to cash in on a tip related to a player, possibly Porter, who wanted to retire two games early.
In April, the NBA charged Porter with violating the league's anti-gambling rules, alleging that he had provided information to sports players and withdrawn from games to alter the odds on his performance. On March 20, Porter played just three minutes of a game before “claiming he was feeling sick,” the statement said. Porter also bet on NBA games, according to the league's release.
“There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA games for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter's egregious violations of gambling rules are being treated with more severe punishment,” said NBA commissioner Adam. Silver said.
Using Porter's information, one person allegedly placed an $80,000 bet that paid out $1.1 million. But the company that took the bet did not pay it after marking the win as unusual.
Porter's attorney, Jeff Jansen, said last month that the player was “in over his head with a gambling addiction,” according to the AP. Porter was seeking treatment and cooperating with law enforcement.
The app reports that prosecutors accused Ammar Awawdeh, Timothy McCormack, Mahmud Mollah and Long Phi Pham of using information from a basketball player known on the papers as “Player 1” to place bets. The details of the case and the NBA's statement line up. In the complaint, “Player 1” owed Awawdeh “significant gambling debts” and allegedly agreed to dump his performance on games so Awawdeh could make money. Player 1 then allegedly promised the four men he pretended to be ill to take him out of the games on January 26 and March 20.
After the bookmaker rejected the million dollar bet, Player 1 later texted three of the men warning them they “might just get hit hard,” referring to an extortion charge. He added that he hoped they deleted “all the stuff” from their phones.
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