On July 10th, ex-NBA player Jontay Porter was to appear in federal court to face a criminal charge connected to the betting controversy that led to his suspension earlier this year.
The ex-Toronto Raptors center is reportedly set to appear in court for an arraignment and plea negotiation session. Prosecutors have not disclosed the charges or charges other than stating in a short court statement that it’s a criminal case.
While receiving treatment for his gambling addiction, Porter was working with authorities, according to his attorney.
As revealed in last week’s court file, Porter’s case is connected to the continuing criminal prosecution against four other individuals. The four individuals have not entered pleas despite their arraignment on a conspiracy to conduct wire fraud allegation.
The individuals in question are accused of plotting to make money off of an NBA player’s tip that he would leave the game two games early. As stated in a court complaint submitted during their June charges, they or their families used this information to make large-winning wagers on the athlete’s bad performance in those games.
No one from the team was named in the allegation. However, the report did note that Porter had spoken with investigators about potential plea deals and sentence reductions in the event that he faced criminal charges.
The player was allegedly pressured by one of the four men to pay off gambling debts by leaving games early so that bets on his poor performance would pay off, as stated in the lawsuit.
The player withdrew from games on January 26 and March 20, citing injuries or illnesses as his reasons. For both games, his point total, rebound total, and assist total were lower than what the bookies had predicted.
In the wake of the NBA and other investigations, the player allegedly texted a few of the men, implying that they were about to be charged with federal racketeering (RICO). According to the plaintiff, the athlete further inquired as to whether or not the guys had erased all data from their phones.
The NBA discovered that Porter had bet on games in which he did not participate and had intentionally left one game early for the benefit of gamblers. The league alleged he had wagered against his own team.
