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Massive Nationwide Takedown in Federal Gambling Probe; NBA- Related Gambling Involved Tens of Millions of Dollars; Day 23 of U.S. Government Shutdown; Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired October 23, 2025 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[10:30:00]

CHRISTOPHER RAIA, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE, FBI NEW YORK: -- coaches and players are also implicated, to include Chauncey Billups, Damon Jones, and Terry Rozier. Three of the named defendants are charged for their alleged roles in both schemes. This alleged illegal gambling operation hustled unwitting victims out of tens of millions of dollars, and created a financial pipeline for La Cosa Nostra to help fund and facilitate their organized criminal activity.

Victims were attracted to play alongside well-known professional athletes and coaches like Chauncey Billups, only to be unknowingly deceived through rigged shuffling machines, fixing the odds in their favor, as alleged and as you just heard from the U.S. Attorney's Office. This alleged scheme wreaked havoc across the nation, exploiting the notoriety of some and the wallets of many to fund the Italian crime families here in New York.

Let me be clear about this fact. The FBI has not and will never take their eye off the ball when it comes to Italian organized crime in this city. Specifically, the LCN and the five families here in New York. We are not going to permit any criminal enterprise, whether it be Italian organized crime, Asian organized crime, Eurasian organized crime, we are not going to permit any of those organized crimes, families and organizations to operate in our city or our country, as evidenced by the 11 states that were also participating in this operation today. The FBI office here in New York remains committed to eradicating all unlawful revenue streams fueling this criminal activity.

As with most cases we've worked -- this is only the tip of the iceberg for the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office. Our LCN squad agents and analysts are continuing to work day and night with the Eastern District of New York to ensure members and associates of the five families cannot continue to wreak havoc in our communities.

Today would not have been possible without the tireless efforts and dedication of the FBI New York Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force, which as you heard was led by Supervisory Special Agent Luke Hardison and the Italian Organized Crime Task Force, which was led by Supervisory Special Agent Mike Melehi (ph). And coincidentally, Supervisory Special Agent Melehi (ph) is going out on a positive as he is retiring at the end of this month for 30 years of dedicated service to the FBI. And that deserves a hand. He's what we call a legend here at FBI New York.

Additionally, obviously we cannot do this alone without our partners. I want to extend my appreciation to Homeland Security Investigation Special Agent in Charge Ricky Patel. Of course, we do nothing in this city without the NYPD, New York City Police Department Commissioner Jesse Tisch. Thank you, ma'am, for all your work and all your resources that you dedicated to this. And New York Waterfront Commissioner Phoebe Sorial for their agency's assistance and support throughout this lengthy and complex investigation.

Our collective efforts ensure these subjects will face accountability, like the Director said, for their alleged wrongdoings. Thank you, and I'll now turn it over to Special Agent in Charge of HSI Ricky Patel.

RICKY PATEL, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS NY: Thanks, Chris. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Ricky Patel. I'm the Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations here in New York.

This morning, hundreds of special agents and investigators with HSI, the FBI, the New York Waterfront Commission, and the NYPD descended upon the homes of individuals who for years have operated with the false sense of impunity, a false sense of incivility.

In the early hours of today, across nine states coast to coast, dozens of defendants were arrested and will face the consequences of their alleged crimes. This was their wake-up call. With the alleged involvement of three La Cosa Nostra crime families, one NBA head coach, a Hall of Famer, no less, and former NBA players, the years of investigative work that culminated with this morning's operation seem reminiscent of a Hollywood movie. But this wasn't luck, and this wasn't theatrics. This was an evidence-driven, relentless, and unified effort among law enforcement.

[10:35:00]

Through what we have dubbed Operation Royal Flush, HSI New York, along with our task force personnel from the Waterfront Commission, first uncovered this scheme more than four years ago. Agents and investigators dedicated countless hours and sleepless nights in identifying the criminal network, dissecting communications and patterns, and following the money with precision.

We built the case piece by piece, and what we discovered was a sprawling criminal enterprise that utilized cutting-edge technology and various methods of deception to dupe unsuspecting gamblers into paying up so that these defendants could cash out. As alleged, this sophisticated conspiracy cheated victims out of at least $7 million and placed the public and the defendants alike at risk. This case involved global reach, financial death, and the patience to dismantle complex financial criminal enterprises from the inside out. When criminal organizations attempt to launder profits through our country, HSI connects the dots and shuts it down.

To anyone who thinks intimidation, fraud, or violence will shield their profits, understand this. If you are exploiting our communities, expect HSI and all of our law enforcement partners at your door.

I would like to thank all our partners here today, obviously the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, the Waterfront Commission, the FBI, the NYPD, and the prosecutors that will carry this forward. Today's arrests are not an endpoint. They are the start of accountability. Thank you, and I now turn it over to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

JESSICA TISCH, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Good morning. Thank you to Director Patel, Assistant Director Raia, and U.S. Attorney Nasella.

What we're announcing today is not just another takedown, it's the result of more than two years of coordinated investigative work by the NYPD's Joint Organized Crime Task Force and the FBI. Two cases that exposed criminal networks led by 34 individuals who believed the rules did not apply to them. They hid behind layers of complexity, behind money, and behind influence believing those things would shield them from accountability.

The first case, Operation Nothing But Bet, exposed a gambling ring built around professional basketball where players and associates allegedly used inside information to manipulate prop bets on major sports betting platforms. They placed wagers on unders on players to score less, rebound less, assist less, using information that was not yet public. In some instances, players altered their performance or took themselves out of games to make sure that those bets paid out.

One example occurred on March 23, 2023 in Charlotte, Terry Rozier, an NBA player now with the Miami Heat, but at the time playing for the Hornets, allegedly let others close to him know that he planned to leave the game early with a supposed injury. Using that information, members of the group placed more than $200,000 in wagers on his under statistics. Rozier exited the game after just nine minutes, and those bets paid out, generating tens of thousands of dollars in profit. The proceeds were later delivered to his home, where the group counted their cash. As the NBA season tips off, his career is already benched, not for injury, but for integrity. As a result of this investigation, six defendants, including Rozier, are now facing conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud.

In a second case, Operation Zen Diagram, investigators uncovered a long-running scheme in which members and associates of several well- known organized crime families rigged high-stakes poker games across the country. These operatives included capos and multiple soldiers from the Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese, and Genovese crime families, bringing four of the five families together in a single indictment is extraordinarily rare. It reflects how deep and how far this investigation reached, and the skill and the persistence it took to get here. That work uncovered a deliberate, technologically sophisticated operation designed to carry out their crimes. They used custom shuffling machines that could read the order of cards, bar- coded decks, and hidden cameras built into tables and light fixtures.

The organizers also enlisted well-known public figures, former and current NBA players and coaches, including Chauncey Billups, the head coach of the Portland Trailblazers, an NBA champion, and a Hall of Famer, to make the games appear legitimate.

[10:40:00]

Victims believed that they were sitting at a fair table. Instead, they were cheated out of millions. One victim in particular lost $1.8 million. In total, losses exceeded $7 million and continued to climb. And when people refused to pay, these defendants did what organized crime has always done, they used threats, they used intimidation, and they used violence. It's the same pattern that we have seen for decades. Traditional mob enforcement methods combined with new technology to expand the reach of their operations.

Now, with the unsealing of today's indictment, 34 individuals are facing charges, including robbery, extortion, money laundering, wire fraud, bank fraud, and illegal gambling. I want to commend the outstanding work of our detectives from the Joint Organized Crime Task Force and their dedication to these cases, especially Captain Ruben Pagan, Sergeant Chris McGuire, Detective Alexander Creamer, Detective James McCullough, and, of course, our Chief of Detectives, Chief Kenney.

As part of these investigations, our members recovered and reviewed thousands of hours of video, conducted extensive surveillance on illegal gambling locations across the city, and executed more than two dozen search warrants on electronic records that revealed the true extent of this conspiracy.

Once again, the work of our detectives, together with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office, closed those gaps before they could widen further. The NYPD is proud to stand with each of you today as these cases represent the kind of partnership that defines modern law enforcement agencies, sharing intelligence, coordinating resources, and moving as one team. Thank you.

JOSEPH NOCELLA JR. U.S. ATTORNEY, EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: If anyone has any questions that they'd like to ask, now is the time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a question about the structure of the case. Is it the investigation into one case, could that lead into the discovery of the other? How -- can you talk more about the link between the two.

NOCELLA JR.: I'm not at liberty to discuss either the background of the investigation itself or the investigation as it continues, so I'm afraid I can't really explain to you other than the fact that both cases have been unsealed today and there was an overlap that has been discussed already with respect to certain of the defendants. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

NOCELLA JR.: With respect to any allegations or defenses that have been made by any of the defendants, they will have their opportunity to present them in court. We're not here to air those at this time or to discuss them. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said the investigation is still ongoing. There seems to be several players referenced in the indictment, some that may have potentially (INAUDIBLE) possibility of future arrests (INAUDIBLE) connection to these sports gambling (INAUDIBLE).

NOCELLA JR.: The -- as I said, I can't discuss ongoing investigations. The investigation is ongoing, which by definition means that there will be further evidence uncovered at a minimum, and there's always that possibility, but I can't comment any further with respect to that. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Director Patel, you had said in your comments, we're going to take heat for this case. Why do you say that, and what efforts might you take to counter that?

KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: It's not popular to go after some of the defendants that we went after today, but justice is served blindly. And how do we countermand that? Simple. The unsealing of these indictments today shows the force of the Department of Justice and our great Attorney General and the leadership that we have at the FBI and the team here to specifically mete out justice.

And, look, let's not, you know, mince words. This is the insider trading saga for the NBA. That's what this is. That's why we are going to take heat. But as the evidence comes out, as the indictments are unsealed, you will see the extensive work these men and women put in, countless hours over years, and that's how we countermand it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dr. Patel, so the dates on these indictments have been files on October 9th and October 16th. Can you talk about the timing of moving in now? Why now?

PATEL: We will not publicly discuss the timing of when we do takedowns. I will only say that we do takedowns in a coordinated fashion with our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney at the appropriate time to make sure that we ensure the integrity of the investigation. As the United States Attorney said, an investigation that is very much ongoing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, Dr. Patel, you said insider trading for the NBA. What are the implications of this case for other sports leagues and for the legal gambling industry in general?

[10:50:00]

PATEL: Simple. If you're participating in the legal gambling industry, you've got nothing to worry about. If you're participating in illegal conduct, you've got everything to worry about, and this case shows it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did the illegal conduct cross with the legal sports betting platforms in any capacity? And if so, is that the search warrants that the police industry requires?

NOCELLA JR.: I'm not sure I quite understand your question. You're asking if the illegal conduct --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it crossed with, like, the sports betting industry or the online sports betting industry?

NOCELLA JR.: The sports books themselves are victims in this case. They themselves did not, as far as our investigation has concluded, they did not perpetrate anything unlawful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you able to say which sports books or online outlets they used to make these bets?

NOCELLA JR.: I'm not going to respond to that at this time, but that information will be made public. Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you identify the access point where these co- conspirators were able to recruit these, you know, famous people to partake in the schemes?

NOCELLA JR.: When you say the access point --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They able to recruit them?

NOCELLA JR.: I'm not sure which case you're referring to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both.

NOCELLA JR.: Well --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) he was recruited, Damon Jones and the NBA scandal, and then Phillips for the (INAUDIBLE)?

NOCELLA JR.: We're not at liberty to say that at this time. That will be revealed in due course. Yes? What is your question, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, thanks for being here. You just said that the sports books themselves are the victims, at least in the indictment involving Terry Rozier and others.

NOCELLA JR.: They're among the victims.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Those companies make -- as we all know, they make a crazy amount of money off of -- a lot of everyday Americans make bets and mostly lose them. Are you concerned with a jury potentially not being sympathetic in a case where the victims, as you say, are these multi-million or billion dollar gambling companies?

NOCELLA JR.: Let me repeat that all of the defendants themselves are presumed innocent. We believe that at a trial, when they have the opportunity to present their defenses, if they chose, because they're not required to. We will come forward with the evidence to demonstrate their guilt. Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did the NBA cooperate with this investigation at all?

NOCELLA JR.: The answer to your question is yes. The NBA has cooperated with the investigation. Yes, sir? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's been reason to believe there's an associated college basketball element to this. Can you confirm that or is there another investigation or part of this investigation that will have college basketball?

NOCELLA JR.: The investigations that we announced today did not involve college basketball.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last question, last question.

NOCELLA JR.: Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was an emphasis on the Italian crime presence, organized crime in New York. Can you give us a sense of the strength and status of Italian organized crime in New York right now?

NOCELLA JR.: No, I'm sorry. That would be a question that goes beyond what we're here to discuss today, which is these two indictments. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, everybody.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. There you have the news conference going on for about a half an hour, detailing truly extraordinary, amazing allegations against some NBA stars, a head coach, and others. We're watching all of this very closely, getting more information.

I want to bring in our senior legal analyst, Elie Honig, a former federal prosecutor himself. Elie, what jumped out at you?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Wolf, these two cases are going to rock the NBA, and they're going to rock the Italian mafia. You kept hearing the references to La Cosa Nostra. That means New York City's Italian mafia, and I promise you the NBA wants no association with them.

So, important to understand, there are two separate indictments here. The bigger one charges 31 defendants, and that includes Chauncey Billups, who's a head coach in the NBA, a very prominent former player, of working in concert with three of New York City's mafia families to run these rigged poker games. And you heard details about the remarkable technology that they used to cheat their victims out of millions of dollars. That's the first case.

The second case actually, I think, poses an even bigger institutional threat to the NBA, and that's what's being referred to as the insider trading case. That's where you have this current NBA player who was working with others to provide confidential information to certain bettors. Terry Rozier is the player. You see information here. Providing confidential information to bettors that was allowing them to place and win huge bets.

[10:50:00]

And as you and I discussed, Wolf, before the press conference, the focus here is on what's called prop bets or over-under bets. So, the way that these sports books will work, it is they'll take a certain given player, let's say Terry Rozier, for example, and say, you can bet on whether he will have over or under 10 points, over or under five rebounds in a game. And it sounds like what was happening was, first of all, inside information about who was healthy, who was injured, who was going to play, who was not going to play, was being fed out to certain gamblers.

And second of all, the allegation is that Rozier himself, at least once in 2023, essentially faked an injury, pulled himself out of a game to make sure that that under number could hit and benefit all sorts of other gamblers. Worth noting, by the way, there was a different player charged with a similar scheme last year, back in 2024, a player called Jontay Porter.

So, this is a recurring problem for the NBA. And I think these indictments are going to cause serious trouble for the league and for -- certainly for the mafia families that are involved.

BLITZER: And I thought it was significant the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, who's obviously prosecuting this case, said the NBA, and I'm quoting him now, has cooperated with the investigation. I thought that was significant, didn't you?

HONIG: Yes. Absolutely. I took note of that. I think it's worth noting, according to the FBI and DOJ, the NBA did cooperate with this. Adam Silver, who's the NBA commissioner, has acknowledged. He has talked in the past about being cognizant of, of course, sports gambling is legal. It's widely legal now. It's not legal to do what's charged here. But Adam Silver has expressed that he's concerned about this and wants to work with law enforcement partners to make sure that they can root it out.

So, it's good that the NBA cooperated, but this is going to be a stain. I mean, we're talking about a major player in Terry Rozier. We're talking about a Hall of Famer in Chauncey Billups, who's now the coach of the Portland Trailblazers. That's a big, big deal.

BLITZER: And the message that we heard from the U.S. attorney, Joseph Nocella Jr., to these NBA stars was, your winning streak has ended, you can bet on that. I thought that was a good play on words as well. We're watching all of this very closely. Elie, don't go too far away. This is a major, major development right now, this investigation, the charges that are being leveled. We're going to continue to watch what's going on. We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.

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[10:55:00]

BLITZER: Happening now, the house speaker, Mike Johnson, and Republicans just wrapped up a news conference here in Washington with the Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on this, day 23 of the federal government shutdown. There's still partisan gridlock and no apparent exit strategy coming from either party. Americans missing out on paychecks and key government services and some federal workers now actually going in line and relying on food pantries.

Joining us now, Republican Congressman Steve Womack of Arkansas. He's a key member of the Appropriations Committee. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. I want to get to the shutdown and some other issues, but first, I know you've been listening like all of us have to this news conference, the U.S. attorney for the Houston District of New York, the FBI director and others. What's your reaction to these charges now being leveled against these current and former NBA stars?

REP. STEVE WOMACK (R-AR), APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Well, it's stunning, Wolf. And I want to congratulate Kash Patel and the investigative team that he has assembled and the New York City Police Department and all of those associated with it, because it is vitally important that we, you know, take these kinds of issues out of the public, that being able to get to the bottom of some of this corruption is vital, I think, to the sports industry. I'm concerned about the impact it's going to have on the NBA.

And let's just face it, this is the kind of stuff that happens when you open up gambling and sports betting and these sorts of things. I'm just stunned by it all, really, because you would like to think that these folks involved are honest brokers and doing what the public expects of them to do.

BLITZER: And I thought it was encouraging to hear the U.S. attorney say the NBA has cooperated with the investigation. We'll see where it goes from here. There are lots more information coming out, and we'll share that with our viewers.

I want to turn, while I have you, Congressman, to the federal government shutdown, which is awful, as all of us know. What's your message to voters out there who gave your Republican Party control of Washington, the House, the Senate, the White House? And many of the folks out there are holding you Republicans responsible for the pain they're beginning to feel during this shutdown. What's your reaction to them?

WOMACK: Well, my reaction is pretty simple. And, of course, I'm a member of the House. I'm a senior appropriator. We've done our job. In fact, we've done a lot more than our job from the appropriation standpoint. And we sent a clean CR over to the Senate.

The issue, Wolf, is, as you well know, is a Senate issue. It's the Senate rule that you have to be able to overcome a filibuster of 60 votes. And we certainly don't have that. But we have a clean CR sitting over there, and we have had since the latter part of September. And it's really up to Senate Democrats to figure out that, if they want to reopen the government and if, indeed, they want to have a full-throated conversation about the issue that they seem to be dug in on right now, and that's the enhanced subsidies of the Affordable Care Act, that the only way that that's going to happen is to get this government reopened.

And the only way to reopen that right now is to accept what the House sent to the Senate, and that is a clean CR. It's somewhat unprecedented here that a clean CR, the ticket to reopening the government, is not being at least received well by a lot of Senate Democrats.

So, if they'll just take up that issue, get us back to Washington, get us back to work, then we can have the conversations about some of these other larger issues.

BLITZER: I hear your criticism, strong criticism, of the Democrats, Congressman, but what specific concrete steps are members of your Republican Party, who control, as I said, the Congress and the White House, taking right now to actually end the shutdown?

WOMACK: Well, our narrative is going to have to change here pretty soon, Wolf, because our CR runs out on the 21st of November. So, we're inside of a month right now before that talking point is not going to be appropriate anymore. You know, right now, to say that you can sign on to that CR, reopen government, we can get back to work on appropriations, that will be our narrative now for the next couple of weeks. But once we get into November, and that's fast approaching, then that talking point is probably going to have to go away, and it's going to come back to us as to having a different point of view.

Now, I've got a solution for it, and I know this has been talked about by a lot of people, but we have three bills, three of the 12 appropriation bills, Ag, Ledge Branch, and Milcon VA.

We have three bills that are in conference with --

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