2026年3月4日 / 美国东部时间下午5:36 / CBS新闻
纽约—— 检察官周三表示，在调查一起据称涉及NBA人士和黑手党成员的操纵扑克游戏案中，12名被告将在联邦案件中达成认罪协议。他们称正式的认罪协议将在未来几天内签署。认罪者的姓名未被公布。
检察官还表示，另有9名被告仍在讨论可能的认罪协议。
本案中所有31名被告——包括前NBA名人堂成员、现教练昌西·比卢普斯（Chauncey Billups）和前球员达蒙·琼斯（Damon Jones）——周三在布鲁克林联邦法院出庭。
一位知情人士透露，比卢普斯不在预计将接受认罪协议的被告之列。比卢普斯、琼斯及其他被告此前均不认罪。
去年10月，联邦调查局（FBI）对涉嫌非法赌博的一系列扑克游戏和体育博彩活动展开大规模打击，这些被告正是在此行动中被抓获。
这12名将认罪的被告是联邦案件中专注于操纵扑克游戏的一部分。另一案件则涉及据称利用与伤病报告相关的内幕信息进行的篮球比赛投注。总共有34人因两份起诉书被指控。
检察官称，这起由黑手党成员操纵的高额赌注扑克游戏作弊计划涉案金额超过700万美元。
检察官在法庭文件中表示，政府已提交超过10万页的财务记录和电话记录、800多页的监控照片，以及在曼哈顿莱克星顿大道一处住宅内举行的一系列扑克游戏的杆式摄像头录像。
根据起诉书，富人被邀请参加与知名前职业运动员进行的“操纵游戏”，这些运动员被称为“面子牌”，他们从“作弊团队”的收益中获得一部分。这些游戏通过高科技设备精心策划，包括X射线桌、经过改装的洗牌机、隐藏摄像头以及设计用于检测牌上隐形标记的眼镜。
法庭文件称，比卢普斯和琼斯被指控参与了2019年在拉斯维加斯的一场游戏，该游戏使用了一台被秘密改装以读取牌面的“作弊洗牌机”。联邦调查局称，一名受害者在该游戏中被骗走5万美元。
包括小安吉洛·鲁杰罗（Angelo Ruggiero, Jr.）在内的几名涉嫌黑手党成员被指控参与操纵扑克计划，检察官称鲁杰罗是杰诺瓦塞犯罪家族成员，并组织了其中一场定期举行的游戏。检察官指控被称为“果汁”的托马斯·杰拉多（Thomas Gelardo）是博南诺犯罪家族的一名同伙，他监督了莱克星顿大道的扑克游戏并抽取收益。
这两人均被关押在布鲁克林联邦拘留中心。另一名被告柯蒂斯·米克斯（Curtis Meeks）也被拘留。
12 defendants set to take plea deals in NBA-mafia rigged poker game case, feds say
March 4, 2026 / 5:36 PM EST / CBS News
New York — Twelve defendants caught up in an investigation into rigged poker games allegedly involving NBA figures and members of the mafia are set to make plea agreements in the federal case, prosecutors said Wednesday. They said the formal plea deals will be entered in the coming days. The names of those pleading were not released.
Prosecutors also said nine other defendants are still in discussions about possible plea agreements.
All 31 defendants in the case — including NBA Hall of Famer turned coachChauncey Billups and former playerDamon Jones— had an appearance Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn.
A source with knowledge of the discussions said Billups is not among those expected to take a plea deal. Billups, Jones and the others have previously pleaded not guilty.
The defendants were snagged during a sweeping FBI crackdown on alleged illegal gambling schemesinvolving poker games and sports betting in October.
The 12 defendants set to plea were part of the federal case focusing on rigged poker games. The other case revolves around bets on basketball games, which were allegedly placed using insider information related to injury reports. In total, 34 people were charged across two indictments.
Prosecutors allege that the elaboratecheating scheme involving high-stakes poker games operated by mafia figures netted more than $7 million.
Prosecutors said in a court filing that the government has produced over 100,000 pages of financial records and telephone records, over 800 pages of surveillance photographs, and pole camera footage from a series of poker games held at a residence on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan.
According to the indictment, wealthy people were invited to “rigged games” with well-known former professional athletes, known as “face cards,” who received a portion of proceeds from “cheating teams.” The games were orchestrated using high-tech gadgets, including X-ray tables, a rigged card-shuffling machine, hidden cameras and glasses designed to detect otherwise invisible markings on cards.
Billups and Jones are accused of participating in a game in Las Vegas in 2019, court documents said, that used a device described as a “rigged shuffling machine” that was secretly altered to read the cards. The FBI said a victim was defrauded of $50,000 in that game.
Several alleged members of the mafia, including Angelo Ruggiero, Jr., who prosecutors say was a member of the Genovese crime family and an organizer of one of the recurring games, are accused of participating in the rigged poker schemes. Prosecutors allege Thomas Gelardo, also known as “Juice,” whom they called an associate of the Bonanno crime family, supervised the Lexington Avenue poker game and took a cut of the proceeds.
Both are being held in the federal detention center in Brooklyn. Another defendant, Curtis Meeks, is also in custody.
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