NEW YORK — 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.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn filed a so-called criminal information sheet Tuesday. The document does not list a trial date or the indictment or charges, but it does show that the case is related to an existing prosecution of four men accused of scheming to profit from tips from a player about his plans to leave two games early.
The Associated Press sent voice and email messages to Porter’s St. Louis attorney, Jeff Jensen, on Wednesday. He said last month that Porter “could not be saved due to a gambling addiction,” but that he was receiving treatment and cooperating with police.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office of Breon Peace declined 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.
A complaint to the court accused the four – Ammar Awawdeh, Timothy McCormack, Mahmud Mollah And Long Phi Pham — by using inside information about an NBA player’s plans so they or their family members could place lucrative bets on his performance in the January 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.