Prosecutors to prolong official plea deals in poker case

Prosecutors involved in the federal investigation concerning manipulated poker games that have implicated NBA Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and former NBA player Damon Jones stated in a brief filed on Tuesday that they anticipate offering formal plea deals to 12 of the 31 defendants in the case and are “reasonably optimistic” about securing plea agreements with nine additional defendants prior to the trial.

All defendants are scheduled to appear in federal court on Wednesday for a status hearing regarding the case.

Since the last status hearing on November 24, defendants have had the opportunity to examine all evidence related to the case, which is currently under a protective order issued by the court.

In their brief submitted on Tuesday, the government indicated that the evidence comprises body-worn camera footage, records pertaining to the defendants’ arrests, electronic data obtained from seven electronic devices and Apple iCloud accounts; over 100,000 pages of financial and telephone records; more than 800 pages of surveillance images; and pole camera footage from 147 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, one of the locations of the alleged rigged poker games.

The government has also provided approximately seven terabytes of electronic data from the devices and iCloud accounts of individual defendants, which were confiscated during their arrests in October.

Billups has been on unpaid administrative leave from his position as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers since his arrest. He entered a not guilty plea to the money laundering and wire fraud charges against him in November.

According to sources close to him, he has been residing in the Denver area since being released on $5 million bail.