New York
Ex-NBA player Damon Jones expected to become first person to plead guilty in rigged gambling sweep
NEW YORK (AP) — Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones is expected to become the first person to plead guilty in a gambling sweep that led to the arrests of more than 30 people, including reputed mobsters and other basketball figures.
A change-of-plea hearing for Jones is scheduled for April 28 in Brooklyn federal court, according to a court filing Thursday. It was originally set for May 6, but was moved at the request of the parties.
Jones, 49, had previously pleaded not guilty to separate indictments charging him with profiting from rigged poker games and providing sports bettors with non-public information about injuries to stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Jones is charged in both cases with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
A message seeking comment was left for his lawyer, Kenneth Montgomery. He told a judge at Jones’ arraignments in November that they “may be engaging in plea negotiations.”
Jones, a onetime teammate of James, was arrested last October along with Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and others, including a sports bettor accused of cashing in on injury information.
Jones was one of three people charged in both the poker and sports betting schemes. He remains free on bail.
A native of Galveston, Texas, Jones earned more than $20 million playing for 10 teams in 11 seasons from 1999 to 2009. He and James played together in Cleveland from 2005 to 2008 and Jones served as an unofficial assistant coach for James’ Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-2023 season.
According to prosecutors, Jones sold or attempted to sell non-public information to bettors that James was injured and wouldn’t be playing in a Feb. 9, 2023, game against the Milwaukee Bucks, texting an unnamed co-conspirator: “Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out.”
James wasn’t listed on the Lakers’ injury report at the time of the text message, but the NBA’s all-time scoring leader was later ruled out of the game because of a lower body injury, according to prosecutors, and the Lakers lost the game 115-106.
On Jan. 15, 2024, prosecutors said, sports bettor Marves Fairley paid Jones approximately $2,500 for a tip that Davis, the Lakers’ forward and center at the time, would see limited playing time against the Oklahoma City Thunder because of an injury.
Fairley then placed a $100,000 bet on the Thunder to win, prosecutors said, but the tip was wrong. Davis played his usual minutes, scored 27 points and collected 15 rebounds in a 112-105 Lakers win, prompting Fairley to demand a refund of his $2,500 fee, prosecutors said.
In the poker scheme, according to prosecutors, Jones was among former NBA players used to lure unwitting players into poker games that were rigged using altered shuffling machines, hidden cameras, special sunglasses and even X-ray equipment built into the table.
According to the indictment, Jones was paid $2,500 for a game in the Hamptons where he was instructed to cheat by paying close attention to others involved in the scheme. His instructor likened those people to James and NBA All-Star Steph Curry, prosecutors said. When in doubt, Jones was told to fold his hand, prosecutors said.
In response, according to prosecutors, Jones texted: “y’all know I know what I’m doing!!”
The poker scheme often made use of illegal poker games run by New York crime families that required them to share a portion of their proceeds with the Gambino, Genovese and Bonnano crime families, according to prosecutors.
Members of those families, in turn, also helped commit violent acts, including assault, extortion and robbery, to ensure repayment of debts and the continued success of the operation, officials said in court documents.
A hot hand from outside the three-point arc, Jones once proclaimed himself in an interview with insidehoops.com as “the best shooter in the world.” He played in every regular season game for three consecutive seasons from 2003 to 2006.
After his playing days, he worked as a “shooting consultant” for the Cavaliers and was an assistant coach when the team, led by James, won the NBA championship in 2016.
Arizona
Suspect enters new guilty plea in the case of missing Navajo grandmother Ella Mae Begay
PHOENIX (AP) — A man charged in the disappearance of a Navajo grandmother whose case has highlighted the crisis of violence against Native Americans pleaded guilty Thursday to robbery as part of a second agreement reached with prosecutors.
Preston Henry Tolth, 26, could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in federal prison, with credit for three years already served, under the conditions of the proposed agreement.
U.S. District Judge Douglas Rayes asked Tolth during a hearing in Phoenix if he was entering the plea because he was, in fact, guilty.
“Yes, your honor,” Tolth said.
Ella Mae Begay was 62 when she vanished in 2021 from Sweetwater, Arizona, a community in the northern part of the Navajo Nation where she spent her days visiting with relatives and weaving rugs that she sold to nearby trading posts.
In 2022, Begay’s niece Seraphine Warren walked from the Navajo Nation to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness about her aunt’s disappearance and the high rate of homicides and missing persons cases in Indian Country. Begay’s case has drawn national media attention and provided fuel for tribal leaders and victim advocates as they push for more law enforcement resources and cooperation between tribal and federal investigators.
Navajo Nation police identified Tolth, whose father was dating Begay’s sister, as a suspect within days of her disappearance.
Under the conditions of the agreement, Tolth acknowledged using force to take Ella Mae Begay’s pickup truck, striking her in the face several times and leaving her on the side of the road before driving away and eventually selling the truck for money and methamphetamine.
Rayes is scheduled in May to review the latest plea agreement, which also protects Tolth from future murder or manslaughter charges in relation to Begay’s case.
Members of Begay’s family say prosecutors negotiated the agreement against their wishes and without their input.
Begay’s son, Gerald Begay, took a break from his construction job in Denver to listen to Thursday’s hearing by phone. He told The Associated Press that he plans to attend the next court hearing and ask the judge to reject the plea agreement in hopes that Tolth can be put on trial.
“The prosecutors aren’t thinking about our rights or what we need as a family,” he said.
In an emailed statement, Lennea Montandon, a spokesperson with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the district of Arizona, said the office has complied with federal victims’ rights law while prosecuting Tolth and will continue to do so. Tolth’s public defender declined to comment on the new agreement.
In a 2021 FBI interrogation, Tolth confessed to attacking Begay in a fit of anger and leaving her for dead. But Rayes dealt prosecutors a major blow by ruling that confession inadmissible in court, saying the FBI agent had unlawfully coerced Tolth into waiving his right to remain silent. In court filings, prosecutors acknowledged that weakened the government’s case significantly.
At a hearing earlier this month, Rayes rejected an earlier agreement that would have released Tolth from federal custody on a sentence of three years of time served in exchange for a guilty plea. The judge’s rare move came after Begay’s grieving family members testified that Tolth should not walk free without leading investigators to her remains.
“Accountability is not time served,” Begay’s niece Seraphine Warren had told the judge. “It’s about truth, and we still don’t have the truth.”
Washington
Supreme Court hands win to oil and gas companies fighting lawsuits over coastal lands
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court handed a win Friday to oil and gas companies fighting lawsuits over coastal land loss and environmental degradation in Louisiana.
The unanimous procedural decision gives the companies a new day in federal court after a state jury ordered Chevron to pay upward of $740 million to clean up damage to the state’s coastline, one of multiple similar lawsuits.
Backed by the Trump administration, the companies argued the case belongs in federal court because they were working to quickly increase the supply of aviation gasoline for the U.S. government during World War II.
The high court agreed. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the 8-0 court, noted Congress has long allowed lawsuits against the government and its contractors to be heard in federal court. This suit, he wrote, implicates Chevron’s wartime efforts to bolster the aviation fuel supply.
Louisiana’s coastal parishes have lost more than 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers) of land over the past century, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, which has also identified oil and gas infrastructure as a significant cause. The state could lose an additional 3,000 square miles (7,770 square kilometers) in the coming decades, its coastal protection agency has warned.
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry backed the lawsuits when he was attorney general, even though he’s a longtime oil and gas industry supporter. Attorneys for local Louisiana leaders say the Supreme Court appeal was a stalling tactic.
The companies appealed to the high court after jurors in Plaquemines Parish — a sliver of land straddling the Mississippi River into the Gulf — found that energy giant Texaco, acquired by Chevron in 2001, had for decades violated Louisiana regulations governing coastal resources by failing to restore wetlands impacted by dredging canals, drilling wells and billions of gallons of wastewater dumped into the marsh.
Friday’s ruling overturns a 2024 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that allowed the suit to stay in state court.
Chevron applauded the Supreme Court’s decision, saying the claims are related to work that the companies did under federal supervision. “Chevron looks forward to litigating these cases in federal court, where they belong,” the company said in a statement.
The company denies responsibility for land loss in Louisiana and argues it’s wrong to sue it for what it did before state environmental regulations were in place.
The case is one of dozens of lawsuits filed in 2013 alleging oil giants including Chevron and Exxon violated state environmental laws for decades.
Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from the case, pointing to financial ties to ConocoPhillips. He’s previously recused himself from other cases due to his stock holdings.
Ex-NBA player Damon Jones expected to become first person to plead guilty in rigged gambling sweep
NEW YORK (AP) — Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones is expected to become the first person to plead guilty in a gambling sweep that led to the arrests of more than 30 people, including reputed mobsters and other basketball figures.
A change-of-plea hearing for Jones is scheduled for April 28 in Brooklyn federal court, according to a court filing Thursday. It was originally set for May 6, but was moved at the request of the parties.
Jones, 49, had previously pleaded not guilty to separate indictments charging him with profiting from rigged poker games and providing sports bettors with non-public information about injuries to stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Jones is charged in both cases with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
A message seeking comment was left for his lawyer, Kenneth Montgomery. He told a judge at Jones’ arraignments in November that they “may be engaging in plea negotiations.”
Jones, a onetime teammate of James, was arrested last October along with Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and others, including a sports bettor accused of cashing in on injury information.
Jones was one of three people charged in both the poker and sports betting schemes. He remains free on bail.
A native of Galveston, Texas, Jones earned more than $20 million playing for 10 teams in 11 seasons from 1999 to 2009. He and James played together in Cleveland from 2005 to 2008 and Jones served as an unofficial assistant coach for James’ Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-2023 season.
According to prosecutors, Jones sold or attempted to sell non-public information to bettors that James was injured and wouldn’t be playing in a Feb. 9, 2023, game against the Milwaukee Bucks, texting an unnamed co-conspirator: “Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out.”
James wasn’t listed on the Lakers’ injury report at the time of the text message, but the NBA’s all-time scoring leader was later ruled out of the game because of a lower body injury, according to prosecutors, and the Lakers lost the game 115-106.
On Jan. 15, 2024, prosecutors said, sports bettor Marves Fairley paid Jones approximately $2,500 for a tip that Davis, the Lakers’ forward and center at the time, would see limited playing time against the Oklahoma City Thunder because of an injury.
Fairley then placed a $100,000 bet on the Thunder to win, prosecutors said, but the tip was wrong. Davis played his usual minutes, scored 27 points and collected 15 rebounds in a 112-105 Lakers win, prompting Fairley to demand a refund of his $2,500 fee, prosecutors said.
In the poker scheme, according to prosecutors, Jones was among former NBA players used to lure unwitting players into poker games that were rigged using altered shuffling machines, hidden cameras, special sunglasses and even X-ray equipment built into the table.
According to the indictment, Jones was paid $2,500 for a game in the Hamptons where he was instructed to cheat by paying close attention to others involved in the scheme. His instructor likened those people to James and NBA All-Star Steph Curry, prosecutors said. When in doubt, Jones was told to fold his hand, prosecutors said.
In response, according to prosecutors, Jones texted: “y’all know I know what I’m doing!!”
The poker scheme often made use of illegal poker games run by New York crime families that required them to share a portion of their proceeds with the Gambino, Genovese and Bonnano crime families, according to prosecutors.
Members of those families, in turn, also helped commit violent acts, including assault, extortion and robbery, to ensure repayment of debts and the continued success of the operation, officials said in court documents.
A hot hand from outside the three-point arc, Jones once proclaimed himself in an interview with insidehoops.com as “the best shooter in the world.” He played in every regular season game for three consecutive seasons from 2003 to 2006.
After his playing days, he worked as a “shooting consultant” for the Cavaliers and was an assistant coach when the team, led by James, won the NBA championship in 2016.
Arizona
Suspect enters new guilty plea in the case of missing Navajo grandmother Ella Mae Begay
PHOENIX (AP) — A man charged in the disappearance of a Navajo grandmother whose case has highlighted the crisis of violence against Native Americans pleaded guilty Thursday to robbery as part of a second agreement reached with prosecutors.
Preston Henry Tolth, 26, could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in federal prison, with credit for three years already served, under the conditions of the proposed agreement.
U.S. District Judge Douglas Rayes asked Tolth during a hearing in Phoenix if he was entering the plea because he was, in fact, guilty.
“Yes, your honor,” Tolth said.
Ella Mae Begay was 62 when she vanished in 2021 from Sweetwater, Arizona, a community in the northern part of the Navajo Nation where she spent her days visiting with relatives and weaving rugs that she sold to nearby trading posts.
In 2022, Begay’s niece Seraphine Warren walked from the Navajo Nation to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness about her aunt’s disappearance and the high rate of homicides and missing persons cases in Indian Country. Begay’s case has drawn national media attention and provided fuel for tribal leaders and victim advocates as they push for more law enforcement resources and cooperation between tribal and federal investigators.
Navajo Nation police identified Tolth, whose father was dating Begay’s sister, as a suspect within days of her disappearance.
Under the conditions of the agreement, Tolth acknowledged using force to take Ella Mae Begay’s pickup truck, striking her in the face several times and leaving her on the side of the road before driving away and eventually selling the truck for money and methamphetamine.
Rayes is scheduled in May to review the latest plea agreement, which also protects Tolth from future murder or manslaughter charges in relation to Begay’s case.
Members of Begay’s family say prosecutors negotiated the agreement against their wishes and without their input.
Begay’s son, Gerald Begay, took a break from his construction job in Denver to listen to Thursday’s hearing by phone. He told The Associated Press that he plans to attend the next court hearing and ask the judge to reject the plea agreement in hopes that Tolth can be put on trial.
“The prosecutors aren’t thinking about our rights or what we need as a family,” he said.
In an emailed statement, Lennea Montandon, a spokesperson with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the district of Arizona, said the office has complied with federal victims’ rights law while prosecuting Tolth and will continue to do so. Tolth’s public defender declined to comment on the new agreement.
In a 2021 FBI interrogation, Tolth confessed to attacking Begay in a fit of anger and leaving her for dead. But Rayes dealt prosecutors a major blow by ruling that confession inadmissible in court, saying the FBI agent had unlawfully coerced Tolth into waiving his right to remain silent. In court filings, prosecutors acknowledged that weakened the government’s case significantly.
At a hearing earlier this month, Rayes rejected an earlier agreement that would have released Tolth from federal custody on a sentence of three years of time served in exchange for a guilty plea. The judge’s rare move came after Begay’s grieving family members testified that Tolth should not walk free without leading investigators to her remains.
“Accountability is not time served,” Begay’s niece Seraphine Warren had told the judge. “It’s about truth, and we still don’t have the truth.”
Washington
Supreme Court hands win to oil and gas companies fighting lawsuits over coastal lands
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court handed a win Friday to oil and gas companies fighting lawsuits over coastal land loss and environmental degradation in Louisiana.
The unanimous procedural decision gives the companies a new day in federal court after a state jury ordered Chevron to pay upward of $740 million to clean up damage to the state’s coastline, one of multiple similar lawsuits.
Backed by the Trump administration, the companies argued the case belongs in federal court because they were working to quickly increase the supply of aviation gasoline for the U.S. government during World War II.
The high court agreed. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the 8-0 court, noted Congress has long allowed lawsuits against the government and its contractors to be heard in federal court. This suit, he wrote, implicates Chevron’s wartime efforts to bolster the aviation fuel supply.
Louisiana’s coastal parishes have lost more than 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers) of land over the past century, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, which has also identified oil and gas infrastructure as a significant cause. The state could lose an additional 3,000 square miles (7,770 square kilometers) in the coming decades, its coastal protection agency has warned.
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry backed the lawsuits when he was attorney general, even though he’s a longtime oil and gas industry supporter. Attorneys for local Louisiana leaders say the Supreme Court appeal was a stalling tactic.
The companies appealed to the high court after jurors in Plaquemines Parish — a sliver of land straddling the Mississippi River into the Gulf — found that energy giant Texaco, acquired by Chevron in 2001, had for decades violated Louisiana regulations governing coastal resources by failing to restore wetlands impacted by dredging canals, drilling wells and billions of gallons of wastewater dumped into the marsh.
Friday’s ruling overturns a 2024 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that allowed the suit to stay in state court.
Chevron applauded the Supreme Court’s decision, saying the claims are related to work that the companies did under federal supervision. “Chevron looks forward to litigating these cases in federal court, where they belong,” the company said in a statement.
The company denies responsibility for land loss in Louisiana and argues it’s wrong to sue it for what it did before state environmental regulations were in place.
The case is one of dozens of lawsuits filed in 2013 alleging oil giants including Chevron and Exxon violated state environmental laws for decades.
Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from the case, pointing to financial ties to ConocoPhillips. He’s previously recused himself from other cases due to his stock holdings.
