NBA gambling, rigged poker scandals: Full list of people arrested - Damon Jones to Eric Earnest

If convicted in the wire fraud and conspiracy indictment, each defendant faces a max sentence of 40 years -- 20 for wire fraud and 20 for money laundering.

Published on: Oct 24, 2025, 03:22:13 IST

By Shuvrajit Das Biswas

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The FBI carried out investigations into schemes involving illegal sports betting and rigged poker games, leading to the arrest of 34, authorities said on Thursday. Among them are Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Damon Jones.

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was among those arrested by the FBI. (AP)

FBI Director Kash Patel and others in law enforcement said the multiple charges involve four of the five leading mafia families and organized crime networks. Here's a full list of people arrested.

People named in NBA gambling probe indictment

Eric Earnest
Marves Fairley
Shane Hennen
Damon Jones
Deniro Laster
Terry Rozier

People named in FBI's poker scheme indictment

Ernest Aiello
Nelson Alvarez
Louis Apicella
Ammar Awawdeh
Saul Becher
Chauncey Billups
Matthew Daddino
Eric Earnest
Lee Fama
John Gallo
Marco Garzon
Thomas Gelardo
Jamie Gilet
Tony Goodson
Kenny Han
Shane Hennen
Osman Hoti
Horatio Hu
Zhen Hu
Damon Jones
Joseph Lanni
John Mazzola
Curtis Meeks
Nicholas Minucci
Michael Renzulli
Anthony Ruggiero Jr.
Anthony Shnayderman
Robert Stroud
Seth Trustman
Sophia Wei
Julius Ziliani

The list of names was reported on by People magazine. The government prosecution of the case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Benjamin Weintraub, David Berman and Kaitlin Farrell.

Also Read | NBA gambling scandal: Famed ref Scott Foster facing arrest? FBI makes big statement on probe

If convicted in the wire fraud and conspiracy indictment, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 40 years -- 20 years for wire fraud conspiracy and 20 years for money laundering conspiracy.

NBA statement amid FBI probe

The NBA released a statement after the arrests in the FBI case.

“We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today. Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities. We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority,” they said.

While the case has shaken up the NBA at the start of the season, teams are grappling with the sudden arrests as well. Tiago Splitter was named interim coach of the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday after the arrest of Chauncey Billups.

(With agency inputs)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shuvrajit Das Biswas
Shuvrajit has over seven years of experience covering US, India, and world news. An English Literature postgraduate from Jadavpur University, Shuvrajit started off covering entertainment, gaming and all things pop culture. There were brief periods away from the media industry, with short stints in content marketing, ed-tech and academic editing. However, the newsroom beckoned and over the last few jobs, Shuvrajit has exceedingly focused on team functioning as well, including tracking news and assigning tasks, working on everyday breaking news, framing detailed coverage plans, and creating immersive and data-driven stories. In his time as a digital journalist, he has covered a Lok Sabha election, multiple state elections, Union Budgets and award ceremonies. He has also helped in planning content for company event panels in the past. For work, Shuvrajit enjoys dabbling with data visualization, editing tools, and AI chatbots and attempts to incorporate AI workflows in everyday tasks. He is deeply interested in geopolitics, sports, films and music. Prompting is a new fascination for Shuvrajit now. Apart from that, he can be found doom-scrolling, sharing memes, or cheering on his favorite football team.Read More

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