FBI Director Kash Patel announced the charges during an October 23 news conference in New York, calling the arrests “historic” and tying the operation to La Cosa Nostra. United States Attorney Joseph Nocella said the conduct amounted to “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized,” alleging that confidential NBA information was misused and that victims lost millions in fixed poker games.

NBA stars’ alleged role in rigged poker games and high-tech cheating

According to the detention letter, as reviewed by ReadWrite, the gambling scheme depended on a range of hidden technologies. Besides altered shuffling machines and X-ray poker tables, prosecutors said the conspirators also used a poker chip tray analyzer that secretly read cards with hidden cameras.

Photos showing a poker table setup and a camera feed capturing card information. Credit: United States v. Ernest Aiello, et al. Criminal Docket

The modified machines were designed to read cards in real time and send that information to operators who were not on site. The letter says the shufflers were altered to “read the cards in the deck, predict which player at the table had the best poker hand, and relay that information via interstate wires to an off site operator.” The operator would then message a player at the table known as the Quarterback, who would signal the rest of the cheating team.

‘Signal book’ for real-time cheating

One poker game in Miami in September 2024 even came with a clear list of physical signals that was shared beforehand.

Message listing poker signal codes, as displayed in a chat from September 2024. Credit: United States v. Ernest Aiello, et al. Criminal Docket

As the document explains: “For example, the above text message indicated that if defendant RENZULLI (Mikey) had the best hand, the Quarterback (in this case, MAZZOLA) would touch the 1,000 poker chip; if defendant ALVAREZ (G) had the best hand, the Quarterback would tap his chin; if defendant MAZZOLA (Mazz) had the best hand, he would tap his wrist or arm. If the victim had the best hand, the Quarterback would touch his black chips, in which case the conspirators would fold to avoid losing money to the victim.”

Face Cards

Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers Chauncey Billups, and Damon Jones were all arrested as part of the FBI probe. Credit: Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA / CC BY-SA 2.0

The government says former NBA players were brought in to help lure wealthy victims into these games. According to the letter, “BILLUPS and JONES, in particular, served as Face Cards, meaning they were utilized to attract victims to the games because of their status as former professional athletes.”

Alleged wire trail to Chauncey Billups

Prosecutors also laid out a money trail they say followed a 2020 game that involved Billups. They wrote: “Following another rigged game in late October 2020 in which BILLUPS participated, bank records show that STROUD (through his company Lil Robbie Productions LLC) wired WEI 50,000 dollars, who, in turn, wired the 50,000 dollars directly to BILLUPS.”

Statement from Chauncey Billups’ attorney to ESPN, making clear that Billups, like Terry Rozier, will fight the FBI’s charges: pic.twitter.com/YCugGaXiiZ

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 24, 2025

In a statement sent to ESPN, Chris Heywood, an attorney for Billups, stressed that Billups would never “cheat and defraud others.”

“Anyone who knows Chauncey Billups knows he is a man of integrity; men of integrity do not cheat and defraud others.

“To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his hall-of-fame legacy, his reputation, and his freedom. He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game.

“Furthermore, Chauncey Billups has never and would never gamble on basketball games, provide insider information, or sacrifice the trust of his team and the League, as it would tarnish the game he has devoted his entire life to.

“Chauncey Billups has never backed down. He does not plan to do so now. He will fight these allegations with the same tenacity that marked his 28-year career. We look forward to our day in court.”

Claims about Damon Jones’ role

Damon Jones, another former NBA player, is portrayed as both a recruiter and an active cheater. Prosecutors say that before a rigged game in East Hampton, “defendant JONES asked STROUD for payment even before the game started… STROUD sent 2,500 dollars to JONES via Zelle the same day.”

Message requesting an advance payment, shown in a September 2023 chat. Credit: United States v. Ernest Aiello, et al. Criminal Docket

A few days later, during the same stretch of games, Jones was getting instructions while he played. The document says: “Messages show that defendant GOODSON (Tony in Macon) coached JONES in real time on how to cheat by instructing him to pay attention to defendants AWAWDEH (whom he likened to NBA All Star Stephen Steph Curry) and GARZON (whom he compared to NBA All Star Lebron Bron James), and, in case of doubt, to fold his hand.” Jones responded: “yall know I know what Im doing!!”

The detention letter also links the operation to the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese crime families. Prosecutors wrote that several of the locations used for poker games were already known to be connected to organized crime groups and that those groups “took a percentage of the criminal proceeds” from the rigged games.

According to Nocella, the operation began in 2019 and spanned locations from the Hamptons to Las Vegas, Miami, and Manhattan. He said the NBA is cooperating with the investigation.

ReadWrite has contacted the legal representatives for Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones for comment.

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The key figures in the racket to rig card games are making the rounds on global news outlets like the script of a Hollywood mafia saga involving the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese crime syndicates.

Key locations in the card game case

The federal indictment (U.S. v. Aiello et al.) was unsealed in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, against 31 individuals for their actions from 2019 and 2023.

The indictment alleged their role is tied to La Cosa Nostra, the managing entity that approves illegal activity, with the accused individuals acting on behalf of the crime families.

Two locations were used for weekly poker games, referred to in the indictment as “Washington Place” and “Lexington Avenue” in Manhattan, New York.

The Washington Place environment was the key hub of the activity and decision-making, said the indictment, from January 2021 and October 2023.

In these games, advanced card-reading facilities, altered shuffling machines, and hidden wireless technology were used to reveal the winning hand via cell phone and filtered through a role titled “Quarterback.”

According to the indictment, the lengthy list included, “Tony Goodson, Shane Hennen, Curtis Meeks, and Robert Stroud supplied the cheating technology. The defendants Ammar Awawdeh, Saul Becher, John Gallo, Zhen Hu, Stroud, and Seth Trustman organized the rigged games. Members of the cheating teams included the defendants Nelson Alvarez, Louis Apicella, Chauncey Billups, Eric Earnest, Marco Garzon, Jamie Gilet, Tony Goodson, Kenny Han, Hennen, Horatio Hu, Damon Jones, John Mazzola, Nicholas Minucci, Michael Renzulli, Angelo Ruggiero, Jr., Stroud, Trustman, and Sophia Wei.”

Key mobsters charged in rigged poker game scandal

Amongst the 31 individuals involved in the indictment, there are several people described as key players in the delivery of this advanced technological scheme to defraud millions from unwitting poker players.

Ernest Aiello

Ernest Aiello, an alleged member of the Bonanno Crime Family, had a leading role, according to the charges, as an orchestrator and facilitator of the rigged table games.

Louis Apicella aka ‘Lou Alp’

Louis Apicella, also known as “Lou Alp,” has been accused of facilitating the cheating and rigged elements of the table games alongside Aiello. He is, according to the case information, a known member of the Gambino Crime Family.

Both men are heavily responsible, say the charges, for the sanctioning of players to enter the games, offering protection to players and other crime families, and organizing the collection of debts owed via the game outcomes.

Ammar Awawdeh aka ‘Flappy’

Ammar Awawdeh, aka “Flappy” and “Flapper Poker,” had a role in organizing what the case refers to as the Washington Place Game. He is referred to as an associate of the Gambino Family in the case notes and a key player in the Cheating Teams.

Matthew Daddino aka ‘Matty’ or ‘The Wrestler’

Matthew Daddino, known as “Matty” and “The Wrestler” to the Gambino Crime Family, led the physical delivery of the table games alongside Joseph Lanni, Michael Renzulli, and Angelo Ruggiero Jr, according to the indictment.

Becher, Zhen Hu, and Trustman, involved heavily in the Lexington A Game, were required to pay defendants Ernest Aiello, Julius Ziliani, and Thomas Gelardo of the Bonanno family.

Awawdeh and Gallo were required to pay defendants Lee Fama, Joseph Lanni, and Ruggiero of the Gambino family, and the defendant Matthew Daddino of the Genovese family for the games.

Former NBA Players

As we reported, the FBI released information involving three individuals with ties to the NBA at the same time the indictment information was released about the rigged Texas Hold’em poker games.

The key bond between both cases is the alleged involvement of Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and former NBA star Damon Jones.

As the case specifically mentions both men as “Face Cards” to attract wealthy patrons and poker players into the games. These individuals would not know that, according to the indictment, Billups and Jones were involved in the rigged elements.

The indictment read “The defendants (Billups and Jones), both of whom are former professional basketball players, were Face Cards and members of the Cheating Teams.”

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