Former NBA player Jontay Porter, who was banned from the league for life after he gambled on games he participated in as a member of the Toronto Raptors, has pleaded guilty to a charge of wire fraud conspiracy in connection to the scandal.
Porter, who was charged along with four co-conspirators earlier this month by prosecutors in Brooklyn, entered the guilty plea at a court hearing Wednesday.
The disgraced player, the brother of Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr., faced a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if found guilty at trial. However, The Associated Press reports that a punishment between three-and-a-half years to just over four years is expected when sentencing takes place on Dec. 18, 2024. As part of his plea agreement, Porter will not appeal any sentence under five years, ABC News reports.
“I knew what I did was wrong and unlawful and I’m deeply sorry for my conduct,” Porter told the judge. His lawyer added that Porter became addicted to gambling and amassed large debts prior to the scheme to derail his own performance in games to benefit his co-conspirators.
In April, following a league investigation spurred by a legal sports betting operator, the NBA accused Porter of violating the league’s rules against gambling, claiming he’d given info to sports bettors and taken himself out of games to help his co-conspirators secure “unders” on prop bets based on his performance.
In a March 20 game between the Raptors and the Sacramento Kings, Porter played only three minutes of a game before “claiming that he felt ill,” the statement said. Porter also bet on NBA games himself, according to the league’s statement, including betting on his own team the Raptors to lose. “Three of the bets were multi-game parlay bets that included one Raptors game, in which Porter bet that the Raptors would lose. All three bets lost,” the league found.
In total, Porter allegedly bet a total of $54,094 and received a payout of $76,059, with net winnings of $21,965. Porter’s NBA salary was about $410,000.
“There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter’s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in April when the league banned Porter for life.
“While legal sports betting creates transparency that helps identify suspicious or abnormal activity, this matter also raises important issues about the sufficiency of the regulatory framework currently in place, including the types of bets offered on our games and players,” Silver continued. “Working closely with all relevant stakeholders across the industry, we will continue to work diligently to safeguard our league and game.”