When US authorities announced two investigations into illegal sports betting last Thursday (23), they described the operations as something “reminiscent of a Hollywood movie”.
One of the schemes, which allegedly involved figures from the NBA (professional basketball league in the USA), special contact lenses, marked letters, an x-ray table and US$7 million (R$37.7 million) in losses, led to the arrest of 31 people in 11 states, including members of the Italian-American mafia organization La Cosa Nostra.
Part of what makes the case so cinematic is the alleged mob involvement. Thanks to decades of movies, television and books, the mob has earned a mythical place in American culture.
“As Ray Liotta said in Goodfellas, ‘We were treated like movie stars with muscles,'” said attorney Edward McDonald, who, as the real-life prosecutor who dealt with former mobster and FBI informant Henry Hill, played himself in the iconic film.
But former prosecutors said the mob’s influence and activities have changed since its heyday in the 20th century, when blood-soaked tabloid covers with reports of murders, extortions and trials were the norm.
Aggressive lawsuits in the 1980s and 1990s helped break the mob’s power in New York and ousted several prominent leaders.
“The truth is the mafia isn’t what it used to be,” McDonald said.
In fact, it has evolved. And the poker game-fixing investigation announced by the FBI on Thursday shows what these activities look like in the 2020s, former prosecutors say.
“These families continued to exist and moved into much more lucrative criminal activities with much less risk, in terms of the years in prison they could face,” said Drew Rolle, former acting chief of the Eastern District of New York’s organized crimes and gangs section.
The mafia now engages in securities fraud, gambling, online sports betting (betting) and operations involving elaborate phone scams, he added.
In 2022, federal authorities in the Eastern District indicted nine members of the Genovese and Bonnano crime families for racketeering, illegal gambling, money laundering, and other crimes.
In December 2024, the former captain of the Genovese crime family, Carmelo Polito, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for running an underground gambling house and an illegal online gambling scheme.
Thursday’s indictment added yet another example to the list.
Federal authorities described an elaborate scheme in which the defendants “used sophisticated technology and recruited current and former NBA players to steal millions of dollars from people.”
Three of the so-called Five Families – the Gambinos, Bonnanos and Genoveses – would be involved.
“When people refused to pay because they were scammed, these defendants did what organized crime has always done: they used threats, intimidation and violence,” said New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
In 2019, criminal organizations set up illegal poker games that utilized a range of cheating technologies, the indictment states.
The defendants used tampered shuffling machines to manipulate the decks and a “chip analyzer” that secretly read the cards using hidden cameras.
In a detail more akin to Mission: Impossible than Miller’s Crossing, players are accused of wearing contact lenses or special glasses that helped them see pre-marked cards.
Former professional NBA athletes were recruited as “branded cards” to lure unsuspecting players into the game, according to prosecutors.
Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and former NBA player Damon Jones allegedly participated in the plan.
The illegally obtained information was passed to an outside participant, who in turn sent the details to an accomplice sitting at the poker table, prosecutors allege. The players involved in the scheme exchanged signals with each other during the game.
Billups’ attorney, Chris Heywood, said in a statement that his client “has never and would never bet on basketball games, provide inside information or betray the trust of his team and the league [NBA]as this would tarnish the sport to which he dedicated his entire life.”
The NBA announced that it has removed Billups from his coaching role “effective immediately.”
“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority,” the league said.
Federal authorities also arrested NBA player Terry Rozier of the Miami Heat on charges in a related case. His lawyer, James Trusty, denied the allegations and said his client “is not a gambler, but he is not afraid to fight and hopes to win this battle.”
The case is still in its early stages, but the combination of professional basketball intrigue and an alleged behind-the-scenes mafia scheme will likely ensure the story remains front and center in the media for months, if not years.
