Jontay Porter, a former NBA player, has pled guilty to a federal conspiracy charge involving gambling, specifically conspiracy to conduct wire fraud.
Former Toronto Raptors center Porter expressed profound remorse for his actions, acknowledging that they were wrong and against the law.
With five starts under his belt, Porter played in 26 games this year, averaging 2.3 assists, 4.4 points, and 3.2 boards. In 2020–21, he was a member of the Memphis Grizzlies and played in 11 games. He made about $410,000 per year in the NBA.
Porter (24) awaits his sentence while free on a $250,000 bail. His sentencing is scheduled for December 18, 2024. According to the prosecution, his punishment will likely be three to four years in jail. Restitution and penalties up to several hundred thousand dollars are also probable assessments against Porter.
Allegedly, they conspired to profit from the NBA player’s tip that he would exit early on two games. They or members of their family exploited this knowledge to gamble on the athlete’s underwhelming performance and won big. Porter has discussed the possibility of a plea bargain or a reduced sentence in the case of criminal charges with investigators.
One of the four individuals reportedly put pressure on Porter to settle his gambling debts by departing games early, taking advantage of bets on his bad performance. Injuries or illnesses were given as the cause for his withdrawal from playing on January 26th and March 20th. His point, rebound, and assist totals were below what the oddsmakers had expected for both games.
The player reportedly contacted many of the men after the NBA’s and other investigations concluded, suggesting that all of them were about to face federal racketeering charges (RICO). The athlete allegedly went on to ask the men whether they had deleted all the data from their phones.
The NBA found out that Porter had knowingly departed one game early to help gamblers and had wagered on games with which he had no involvement. Porter was accused by NBA investigators of betting against his own team.
