NBA player and coach charged in illegal gambling cases involving mafia

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A hot take on gambling in right out of the gate.
We're going to jump into the NBA store here in
just a minute. But there was a conversation that broke
out on the panel with Charles Barkley and one of
the other guys, and they were kind of on both
sides of this issue here. And gambling is an addiction
just like any other type of addiction, whether it's drugs

(00:20):
or you know, sex, or alcohol or you know whatever.
Gambling is also a very addictive situation, especially in sports
and guys that have played at that level and are
involved in that level that have big money. You to
look at Phil Mickelson's who loves to gamble. Michael Jordan

(00:41):
was a big gambler. A lot of people at that
level of money like to gamble, lots lots of big money,
which you know, you can lose a ton, you know,
and they don't build those casinos based on all the
you know, the winners in Las Vegas. You know, there's
a lot more losing going on in gambling than there

(01:02):
is winning. But when it gets into the area of
where you're fixing things, and that's some allegations going on
here that'll bring in the FBI Portland Trailblazers coach Chauncey
Phillips and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier were arrested yesterday
as part of this nationwide sweep that involved illegal sports
betting and organized crime. Our FBI director Cash Pattel weighing

(01:28):
in on this and how these NBA players are getting
in bed with the crime families and mob.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Listen, and what the American people should know is this
FBI has no business in being the morality police. We
are the police and the enforcement of the laws. If
you break the law, we're coming for you, whether you
playing the NBA, coaching the NBA, and these individuals got
in bed with La Casa Nostra and four of the
five major crime families in New York City to create
gambling empires, to rob people of their money, to extort people,

(01:57):
to commit acts of wirefraud, to rig games and poke
games and basketball games just so they can make a
few extra bucks. And then they had the protection of
the mafia in New York around this country so that
they could continue the scheme to fleece innocent victims of
tens of millions of dollars. That's what the FBAI and
the American people need to understand that we showcase today

(02:20):
nationwide takedown of over thirty individuals involved in this scheme,
and we are doing it because they committed acts of illegality.
It has nothing to do with legal gambling, and it
has everything to do with those in positions of power
in places like the NBA getting in bed with La
Casa Nostra and committing acts of extortion, fraud, money wandering,

(02:41):
and wire fraud and so many other crimes. And this investigation,
by the way, today, this massive takedown that the FBI
led in multiple jurisdictions, coordinating arrests across dozens of cities,
is just the start. This investigation is very much ongoing.
And as I said at the news conference in New
York today, if you didn't do anything wrong or illegal
to worry.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
About, well, the investigation is well underway and these guys
have been arrested. I mean, there's a lot going on here.
Rosier was arrested in Orlando yesterday and connects with the
sports betting ring that allegedly involved NBA players faking injuries
to kind of throw the points, spreads and things like this,

(03:21):
Oh my leg's killing me. I how to come out
and they put in another player and that doesn't score
as many points or whatever. But that is really tough
to prove. I mean, if a player says they're hurt,
you know, and they come out. But there's also this
whole poker scheme that we're using high tech cheating tools
to steal millions of dollars from victims. And the prosecutor

(03:41):
said these games were rigged using tampered card shuffling machines
that could read cards and send information to an off
site operator. I mean, there's all kinds of deep, dark
madness going on in this whole betting thing. Here the
case against Rosier, as I mentioned, you know, the NBA
games for gambling profits. He reportedly left the game with
an injury just nine minutes in, and the prosecutor say

(04:03):
was arranged in advance to allow people to place bets
against him, and he's working with people to you know,
swing the points, and you know, so it's this is
a pretty deep thing, and they're going to come after
these guys hard, and they some of these people could
end up in jail, there's no doubt about that. And
when you start talking about getting involved with a mob,
boy the Tentacles are going to go deep on this one.