To say that former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter made a bad bet when he decided to pull himself out of a game so that a gambling operation could win a prop bet is something of an understatement. Not only did the move cost him his NBA career (he’s banned from the league for life), it also has him facing the possibility of spending some time behind bars.
Last week federal prosecutors in the U.S. District Court for the East District of New York filed papers indicating that Porter will be charged in federal court for his alleged role in the scheme. Ammar Awawdeh, Timothy McCormack, Mahmud Mollah and Long Phi Pham will also likely be charged as well.
Earlier this year, an investigation by the league found that Porter “disclosed confidential information about his own health status to an individual he knew to be an NBA bettor,” according to ESPN.com. Porter made a terrible situation even worse by pulling himself out of a game on March 20 so that those same individuals could win an $80,000 prop bet on his play that would have paid out $1.1 million.
The group’s scheme was quickly, and impressively, sniffed out by International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) which flagged the oddly large wager on Poter’s play. Investigators quickly exposed the entire operation and Porter was just as quickly banned from the NBA.
Though the exact nature of the charged laid against Porter won’t be revealed publicly until a hearing on July 10, sources, including ESPN, indicate Porter is expected to plead guilty when the charges are announced. Porter, who blames his troubles on a gambling addiction, is also under investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and could also be facing charges in Canada.