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Former NBA player Damon Jones was arraigned at a federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday following last month's FBI crackdown on alleged Mafia-linked illegal gambling schemes. Appearing alongside attorney Kenneth Montgomery, the 49-year-old Jones calmly walked by reporters gathered in downtown Brooklyn for his two separate hearings. Weeks earlier, Jones, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Billups and Rozier have both denied the charges. In total, more than 30 individuals have been arrested in the FBI investigation into two alleged schemes, both of which resulted in charges for Jones. On Wednesday, the ex-guard and assistant coach was first arraigned by Judge Ramon Reyes for the U.S. v. Aiello et al indictment, which focuses an alleged scheme to rig illegal poker games with the use of Jones and Billups to lure unsuspecting victims. From there, Jones walked across the hall to be arraigned by Judge Taryn Merkl on the U.S. v. Earnest et al. indictment involving an alleged scheme to improperly share inside injury information with sports gamblers. It remains unclear how Jones is pleading in the two cases. Montgomery did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail's request for further information. According to the indictments, James came to know the other defendants in the sports gambling case through the rigged poker games, which allegedly relied on X-ray tables and other high-tech devices. Billups and Jones were allegedly used as 'face cards' in the scheme to attract unsuspecting gamblers, and profits from the games were shared with the Bonanno and Gambino crime families, according to that indictment. In U.S. v. Earnest et al, Jones is accused of leaking injury information about his friend and former teammate LeBron James to gamblers in 2023. James is not named in the indictment and is instead referred to as 'Player 3.' He has not been charged or accused of any wrongdoing in the FBI probe. Daily Mail has reached out to his agency, Klutch Sports, to offer the chance at commenting. Billups will be arraigned on November 24 while Rozier's arraignment is scheduled for December 8.
