CHAUNCEY BILLUPS FOUND HIMSELF positioned at the main table within the formal courtroom of the U.S. Courthouse in Brooklyn.
Dressed in a somber gray suit, Billups submitted his plea of not guilty on the 24th of November, responding to federal accusations concerning a manipulated poker match that had captivated the focus of the NBA and the wider athletic community. He is contending with charges of money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy, each carrying a potential maximum incarceration period of two decades.
Amidst the 30 other co-defendants, Billups, mostly devoid of emotion, occupied a prominent central seat for over three hours as Judge Ramon E. Reyes presided over arguments regarding various procedural and logistical matters. This positioned Billups as the emblematic figure of a legal proceeding that encompasses violent offenders with extensive criminal records, organized crime figures, and members of the illicit underground, as prosecutors allege he acted as a “face card” in the manipulated poker events, his renown drawing unsuspecting participants to the game.
Billups’ spouse, Piper, along with their three daughters, were situated two rows behind him. He scanned the judicial chamber, then directed his gaze towards the assembly of journalists seated to his left who had come to observe and chronicle the proceedings. He paused momentarily on the familiar countenances from his professional journey as a basketball player and head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, a legacy now considerably imperiled.
Billups’ sole utterances that day were his declaration concerning the allegations against him. His legal representative, Marc Mukasey, refrained from comment upon entering and exiting the courthouse.
A significant duration will pass before anyone fully comprehends how Billups allegedly became entangled in this controversy and the extent of his involvement. This process could span several years.
Within the courtroom, the judge imposed a protective directive on the evidence in the case distributed to legal counsel—which prosecutors assert includes a terabyte of financial records, surveillance imagery, and other digital information—and voiced his expectation that a trial might commence in September.
All 31 individuals implicated in the matter are obligated to appear in that ceremonial courtroom in Brooklyn on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET for a status review of the case, now that the defendants have had several months to examine the evidence presented by the government.
Mukasey, who previously represented President Donald Trump during a 2019 legal challenge to prevent Manhattan’s district attorney from obtaining his tax documents, did not reply to communications left by ESPN requesting comment ahead of Wednesday’s hearing.
Ron Naclerio was among those present in court in November to offer backing for an individual he had first encountered nearly three decades prior. The esteemed coach of Benjamin Cardozo High in Queens initially met Billups when he was a standout point guard emerging from Colorado and mentored him for the 1997 NBA draft.
“He noticed me, we embraced, and I conveyed, ‘I know you’re enduring immense hardship, but just persist,’” Naclerio recounted to ESPN. “Subsequently, his lawyer approached me and expressed gratitude for my attendance.”
As Billups and his kin departed the courtroom, throngs of reporters and onlookers trailed as Billups proceeded to post his $5 million bond.
“It was overpowering,” Naclerio remarked. “I mean, it’s evident for a person who once halted for interviews regarding an NBA championship victory or a Hall of Fame announcement, to be assailed for an incident such as this. I simply thought, ‘Wow, the current onslaught represents such a nadir compared to the pinnacles he’s experienced.’”
ONE INDIVIDUAL BILLUPS neither conversed with nor recognized at that November hearing was his acquaintance, former NBA player and coach Damon Jones, who was indicted in the federal inquiries into manipulated poker games and unlawful wagering and has maintained his innocence at both of his arraignments.
Half a decade earlier, they had cohabitated in Billups’ Colorado residence, weathering the most solitary initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic alongside Billups’ closest companion, Tyronn Lue, then the lead assistant for the LA Clippers, and Lue’s cousin, J. Carter. Billups engaged a chef who had been temporarily laid off from a high-end eatery, asking him to prepare meals for his friends to alleviate some of the strain on his wife, and the trio devoted their days to reviewing footage of the NBA season, which had been suspended, he informed ESPN in 2021.
“All that time spent conversing and analyzing,” Billups stated then, after he had formally joined Lue’s staff as an assistant in Los Angeles. “That’s genuinely what ultimately influenced my decision to coach.”
Billups had worked in media since his retirement as a player in 2014, initially for ESPN and subsequently for the Clippers. He and Lue had maintained a close friendship since their teenage years. Lue has not been implicated in any of the federal investigations and has disavowed any involvement in his public declarations on the matter. Jones had competed against both during his NBA career and served on Lue’s staff in Cleveland.
During the November hearing, prosecutors indicated they are scrutinizing 25 poker games conducted between 2019 and 2023. In the formal accusation, Billups and Jones are referenced in claims regarding two games—in April 2019 and October 2020 in Las Vegas—a year before Billups extended an invitation to Jones to reside with him in the spring of 2020 and a few months before the second game.
Prosecutors allege that both Billups and Jones were recruited to the games by Robert Stroud, a 67-year-old Kentuckian with connections to the Gambino crime syndicate. In the indictment, prosecutors claim that Stroud enticed renowned athletes or public figures “to lure affluent victims into participating” in the manipulated games, then “compensated them with a portion of the illicit gains.”
Stroud, who also pleaded not guilty, possesses an extensive criminal history involving aggression and wagering, including a manslaughter conviction stemming from a shooting during a card game in Louisville in 1994.
The manner in which Stroud enlisted them and the degree to which each man purportedly participated remains under sealed evidence. However, evidence from Stroud’s iCloud account included in the initial indictment revealed a $50,000 transfer to a 40-year-old Queens woman named Sophie Wei, who subsequently wired funds directly to Billups.
Wei, whom investigators refer to as “Pookie” in their indictment, is a Taiwanese-Brazilian creator who is connected within the music, entertainment, and basketball spheres. On her now-private Instagram profile, Wei has been pictured with musicians Drake, Mary J. Blige, and Ne-Yo.
She also showcased artworks she completed for Kevin Hart and for Shaquille O’Neal’s offspring, Shaqir and Shareef. Furthermore, she displayed her creations at the 2024 NBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis.
Prosecutors assert Wei was one of the orchestrators of the manipulated poker games in New York and Las Vegas. Her court-appointed counsel, Jacqueline Cistaro, declined to offer comment when contacted by ESPN.
POSITIONED BEHIND BILLUPS in the courtroom was 53-year-old Eric “Spook” Earnest. His court-appointed legal representative sat directly behind Billups’ table.
In their formal accusation, prosecutors characterize Earnest and Billups as long-standing
friends and featured messages from the October 2020 match where Wei and Stroud conversed about the necessity for Billups and Earnest to deliberately forfeit a hand to evade any hint of foul play.
Wei proposed introducing another participant from their illicit group to the table, suggesting “Chauncey and/ spook concede to him.” Stroud assented to the proposition, prompting Wei to text back, “They are already aware of all the cues.”
The term “they” within Wei’s message denotes Billups and Earnest. This implies that authorities contend Billups was not merely the celebrated sportsman at the game, enlisted to attract affluent participants, but rather an integral part of the illicit crew. He understood the cues they employed for deception and adhered to them to swindle victims of vast sums.
The origins or timeline of Billups and Earnest’s bond remain uncertain. Official documents reveal Earnest resided predominantly in the broader St. Louis region throughout his life. Legal filings show that in October 2007, Earnest admitted culpability to accusations of illicit financial transactions and a plot to circulate cocaine and marijuana. This was part of a government probe into a St. Louis criminal enterprise with ties to the Black Mafia Family. This Detroit-originating narcotics dealing and illicit finance group, headed by the Flenory brothers—Demetrious “Big Meech” and Terry “Southwest”—has served as inspiration for three documentaries and the Starz television drama, BMF, executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.
Billups, who competed for seven seasons with the Detroit Pistons (2002-2009), securing a title in 2004, possesses an association with Terry Flenory. On April 14, 2021, Flenory—freed from incarceration in May 2020 after completing 12 years of a 30-year sentence—shared an image of himself and Billups standing before the Detroit River, with the Ambassador Bridge as a backdrop, alongside a caption:
“Woke up this morning to a surprise my man BIG SHOT Billups tapping in before both of us head to work.”
Billups, then in his inaugural season as an associate coach with the Clippers—who defeated the Pistons 100-98 later that evening—replied:
“Always love bro. Great times ahead. Happy for u.”
On Oct. 30, The Athletic referenced an erstwhile federal DEA agent who revealed that Earnest boasted via intercepted calls about his affiliations with NBA players and other celebrated sportspersons. The report also noticed ties on social media between Earnest’s and Billups’ families, observing that Billups tracks Earnest’s wife and daughter.
Peter E. Brill, Earnest’s legal counsel, similarly failed to reply to inquiries from ESPN.
Earnest purportedly assumed a pivotal part in this controversy, and his association with Billups persisted until at least 2023. Prior to a March 24, 2023, match between the Chicago Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers, Billups, at that time the squad’s chief strategist, supposedly conveyed confidential data to an individual who later employed it to bet $100,000.
That individual was Eric Earnest.
BILLUPS WAS AMONG the two accused individuals granted provisional liberty after furnishing his $5 million surety. The second was Anthony Schnayderman, whom authorities contend served as the principal illicit financier in the scheme.
While that represented the highest amount among the 31 accused parties to secure release, jurisprudence professionals interviewed by ESPN proposed that the figure might stem from the permissive terms imposed on his liberation, coupled with Billups’ resources and renown.
Billups employed a property he possesses in Colorado as security for the surety, formally endorsed in tribunal by his spouse and daughter, Sydney.
Billups has resided at one of his two Colorado residences for the recent months, as per informed individuals aware of his location. The 15,000-square-foot Greenwood Village property he acquired in 2007 was pledged as security for his $5 million bail. He divested his Lake Oswego, Oregon, home for $4.275 million soon after his apprehension and prolonged unpaid absence from his chief coaching position with the Trail Blazers.
He passes his time tranquilly, as stated by intimates, with his kin and companions in the Denver vicinity, engaging in golf, observing matches, and interacting with a select few NBA peers. The conditions of his liberation prohibit him from venturing beyond the national borders, and any locale apart from Colorado, California, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington D.C., or New York City.
The most recent public depiction of Billups emerged upon his departure from the judicial building that afternoon in late November. He strode swiftly through the throng of videographers down Duane Avenue in Brooklyn. A dark sprinter van awaited Billups, his family, and his legal team approximately 400 feet away.
Billups maintained an upward gaze the whole duration, exuding the sort of composure he was recognized for during his playing career.
No one entertained queries or decelerated until they arrived at the van. Billups did not enter immediately upon arriving at the entrance. He halted, faced the onlookers, then held back until his spouse and children were inside.