Ex-NBA player Jontay Porter to face felony charges in betting scandal after being banned for life from league
Former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter will be charged with a federal crime related to the sports betting scandal that prompted the NBA to ban him for life, according to court documents.
Porter, 24, was given a lifetime ban by the NBA in April after it was found that he had violated the competition’s strict rules.
A league investigation found that the Toronto player provided confidential health information to sports bettors and bet on games himself.
Porter now faces more than just punishment from the league, after federal prosecutors in Brooklyn filed a so-called criminal information form on Tuesday.
The document does not specify a trial date or the indictment or charges, but it does show that the case is related to an ongoing prosecution of four men accused of plotting to make money from tips from a player about his plans to leave two games early.
Former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter is charged with a federal crime
Porter was given a lifetime ban by the NBA after violating the rules of the game
Porter’s attorney, Jeff Jensen, said last month that Porter was “beyond recovery due to his gambling addiction” but that he was receiving treatment and cooperating with police.
According to the Associated Press news agency, the office of US Attorney Breon Peace did not want to comment on the new developments.
An NBA investigation in April found that Porter tipped off gamblers about his health and then claimed illness to leave at least one game, causing anyone who bet on him to underperform. Porter also bet on NBA games he didn’t play in, and once bet against his own team, the league said.
The four men charged last month appeared in court but have not yet entered pleas. They are accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and were released on varying amounts of bail.
In a court filing, the four — Ammar Awawdeh, Timothy McCormack, Mahmud Mollah and Long Phi Pham — were accused of misusing inside information about an NBA player’s plans so they or their family members could place lucrative bets on his performance in the Jan. 26 and March 20 games.
The complaint identified the athlete only as “Player 1,” but details — and even a quote from an NBA press release — matched the league’s investigation into Porter.
Porter played only briefly on January 26 and March 20, after which he was forced off the field due to injury or illness.