Former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter is being criminally charged by federal prosecutors for his alleged involvement in an illegal gambling scheme.
According to a criminal docket filed in the U.S. District Court for the East District of New York, Porter has been named as a defendant and is set to face charges due to his alleged involvement in an illegal gambling operation that led the 24-year-old to provide insider information to a group of co-conspirators to alleviate significant gambling debts.
Porter was allegedly encouraged by the co-conspirators to exit certain NBA games early to pay off his debt. The co-conspirators were Long Phi Pham, Timothy McCormack, Mahmud Mollah and Ammar Awawdeh. The four men are facing charges related to defrauding a sports betting company for their alleged involvement in the scheme.
Porter is facing felony charges in New York. The court confirmed on Thursday that Porter’s arraignment and plea agreement hearing will be held on July 10.
He is expected to plead guilty to the federal charges that are levied against him due to the charges being delivered through an information document as opposed to an indictment.
Details of Porter’s alleged involvement
According to a criminal complaint, Pham encouraged Porter to withdraw from certain NBA games to pay back debt leading to Pham and the co-conspirators to placing bets on Porter.
Porter allegedly notified Pham of his intention to exit a Jan. 26 game against the Los Angeles Clippers early due to injury. As a result, McCormack and a relative of Awawdeh placed bets on the “under” player prop markets for Porter. Collectively, McCormack and Awawdeh’s relative won over $100,000 after Porter only played four minutes in the contest.
A March 20 game against the Sacramento Kings was also integral in the illegal gambling scheme. According to the complaint, several days before the contest Porter allegedly told family and team officials he was suffering from food poisoning. He would later notify the co-conspirators of his plan to exit the March 20 game early due to his alleged sickness.
The co-conspirators allegedly met at an Atlantic City casino on March 20 to place bets ahead of the Kings game knowing Porter would exit early due to his sickness. According to geolocation data and surveillance footage, Pham and his co-conspirators wagered more than $100,000 on Porter “under” player props with cash and online sportsbooks.
Porter would once again play limited minutes netting the co-conspirators over $1 million.
The wagers from the online sportsbook were flagged for suspicious activity leading to a report to the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) and the NBA. The IBIA reported its findings to the FBI resulting in criminal charges against Pham, McCormack, Mollah, and Awawdeh. The NBA would open a probe leading to the lifetime ban of Porter.
Porter closed his NBA career averaging 3.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game across two seasons. He also spent time in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Porter also facing issues in Canada
The former NBA player is also being investigated by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
Last month, the OPP opened a criminal probe into Porter for his delivery of insider information while with Toronto’s NBA franchise. The investigation was initiated following an assessment of available information by the OPP Investigation and Enforcement Bureau.
