Disgraced NBA player Jontay Porter expected to plead guilty in sports gambling scheme
A disgraced NBA player who was banned for life for betting on games is expected to plead guilty to criminal charges tied to the federal case against bettors who cashed in on his gambling scheme.
Former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter will plead guilty on July 10 after he appeared on a Brooklyn Federal Court docket Wednesday, in what ties him for the first time to the alleged betting ring that Porter’s tanked gameplay made happen.
The filing indicates that federal prosecutors are seeking felony charges against Porter, 24, in connection with four defendants charged in the betting scheme last month.
Federal prosecutors said that four gamblers — Long Phi Pham, Mahmud Mollah, Timothy McCormack and Ammar Awawdeh — were tipped off by Porter that he was going to purposely bow out early during two NBA games.
They face conspiracy to commit wire fraud and other charges from the two games — a Jan. 26 tilt against the Los Angeles Clippers and a March 20 game against the Sacramento Kings.
The defendants all placed “prop bets” — also known as a proposition, by betting the over or under on certain statistical categories such as points or rebounds, prosecutors said — with one defendant allegedly making $1.13 million off Porter’s performances.
They face conspiracy to commit wire fraud and other charges.
Porter was banned for life on April 4 after the NBA found that Porter was “disclosing confidential information to sports bettors” and “limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes.”
The league had said Porter had won at least $21,965 through 13 bets through a friend’s online betting account.
Porter’s attorney, Jeff Jensen, did not immediately return a request for comment.
The former baller, listed at 6-foot-10 on his NBA profile, played college hoops at the University of Missouri but went undrafted in 2019 before signing with the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2020-21 season, appearing in 11 games. He appeared in 26 more games last season with Toronto.
