Former Cleveland Cavaliers player and coach Damon Jones, who the feds say texted prolifically about his role in a sweeping gambling conspiracy, is pursuing a possible plea deal, the ex-hoops star said in his first appearance in Brooklyn Federal Court Thursday.
Jones pleaded not guilty in a pair of indictments, one accusing him of leaking inside information to bettors before NBA games, the other of taking part in a Mafia-connected rigged poker game that stole millions from high rollers looking to play Texas Hold ‘Em with sports stars.
Jones, who was initially arrested in Texas, walked into the courtroom wearing a dark blazer and a light-blue, button-down shirt open at the collar. He was released on $200,000 bond, secured by his mother and stepfather, who put up their Texas home as collateral.
The mention of plea negotiations came when Judge Ramon Reyes, who is overseeing the poker case, asked Jones about consenting to stopping the 70-day speedy trial clock — a common occurrence in complex prosecutions.
“You may be engaging with plea negotiations in the government, is that correct?” the judge asked, to which Jones responded, “Yes, Sir.”
The ex-hoops sharpshooter refused to answer reporters’ questions as he left the courthouse Thursday.
The blockbuster takedown, announced last month, snared three NBA stars and 31 other suspects, including several organized crime members and a pair of sports-betting social media influencers. One of those influencers, Marves “Vezino Locks” Fairley, was also arraigned in Brooklyn Thursday. He pleaded not guilty and was released, also on $200,000 bond.
The NBA bigs accused of participating in the ploy include Jones, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups.
In the poker scheme, the conspirators are accused of running high-stakes games in Manhattan, Las Vegas, the Hamptons and Miami, using Billups and Jones as the “face cards” to reel in deep-pocketed gamblers, or “fish.” But the fish were destined to drown, thanks to high-tech cheating equipment, like an altered automatic card shuffler, an X-ray table, and a poker chip tray with hidden cameras, the feds allege.
The victims lost $7 million in total, with one unlucky gambler alone losing $1.8 million, authorities said.
Jones was free with texts about the conspiracy, the feds allege, asking a co-conspirator to front him $10,000 before one East Hampton game and telling him: “God really blessed me that u have action for me because I needed it today bad.”
When another co-conspirator gave him advice on how to play the rigged game right, Jones boasted, “Lol man y’all call Djones in cause y’all know I know what I’m doing!! Let me hibachi like Gilbert Arenas.” Arenas, another ex-NBA player, was arrested and charged in July with running an illegal, high-stakes poker game out of his Los Angeles home.
Rozier and Jones were also accused of leaking insider information to bettors in a separate, but linked, conspiracy. Billups, though not charged in that conspiracy, is referred to, but not by name, as an unindicted co-conspirator, law enforcement sources confirm.
Jones, an unofficial assistant coach for the Lakers in 2022 and 2023, used his position, the feds say, to leak info about a Feb. 9, 2023, game with the Milwaukee Bucks, texting a conspirator, “Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out! [Player 3] is out tonight. Bet enough so Djones can eat to [sic] now!!!”
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