Copyright The Oregonian
As Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups faces federal charges connected to an alleged rigged underground poker game, he will do so with new representation. The embattled Blazers coach has hired prominent trial lawyer Marc Mukasey to represent him in federal court, two sources with knowledge of the situation told The Oregonian/OregonLive, bolstering his legal team with notoriety and experience handling high-profile cases. Mukasey, the founding partner of the boutique law firm Mukasey Young LLC, specializes in white-collar litigation and has represented President Donald Trump and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, among other notable figures. One of Mukasey’s more famous cases came in 2019, when he defended Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher against murder charges and earned an acquittal. But Mukasey also defends clients in the sports world, including the NBA, and he recently represented Joe Sanberg, a central figure in the league’s ongoing investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers and star player Kawhi Leonard. Sanberg is the co-founder of a company that agreed to pay Leonard millions of dollars for a no-show endorsement deal that fueled allegations the Clippers were trying to circumvent the NBA salary cap. Before founding his current firm, Mukasey worked as a prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York and as chairman of white collar defense practices at two international law firms. He is the son of former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey. Billups was indicted in federal court last week on counts of money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy as part of a multiyear investigation by law enforcement agents, who allege that Billups used his celebrity status as a former Hall of Fame player to attract gamblers to a rigged poker game. He was one of 34 people arrested in conjunction with the investigation, which features two separate cases covering 11 states with alleged links to the Mafia. Prosecutors say Billups was directly linked to one case involving rigged underground poker games that featured former professional athletes — dubbed “face cards” — who lured unknowing gamblers to games, where they were allegedly defrauded out of millions. Another person charged in the alleged scheme is Eric “Spook” Earnest, who, according to federal records, was playing poker at the same table as Billups during the April 2019 game in Las Vegas that prompted the charges. Billups was also indirectly linked to a second case involving a sports-betting scheme that prosecutors allege featured the dissemination of insider information about NBA games. His name did not appear in that case, but his identity matched the description of someone labeled “Co-Conspirator 8.” “Co-Conspirator 8,” according to prosecutors, told Earnest that the Blazers planned to sit several of their best players for a game against the Chicago Bulls on March 24, 2023, information that was not publicly known at the time, according to the indictment. Earnest went on to share that information with another defendant, a Mississippi man named Marves Fairley, to place bets on the game, federal officials allege. Billups has been placed on unpaid leave by the NBA. Latest Blazers news Lessons from the Trail Blazers trip: Blake the menace, crunch time, depth for days Trail Blazers race to big lead, hold off Utah Jazz in final seconds for win: Rapid Reaction Are the Trail Blazers paying embattled coach Chauncey Billups during leave of absence? Portland Trail Blazers vs. Utah Jazz: Game preview, odds, TV channel, how to watch As Portland Trail Blazers roll Los Angeles Lakers, a protege outplays his old mentor Meanwhile, more details have emerged about the relationship between Billups and Earnest. The Athletic — which first reported that Billups had hired Mukasey — also detailed several connections between the two men in a Thursday report. Their families are closely linked on Instagram, according to the report, as Billups follows Earnest’s wife and daughter and Billups’ wife, Piper, follows Earnest’s daughter. Additionally, one of Billups’ daughters and one of Earnest’s daughters follow one another. Billups appears in a 2021 social media photo alongside Terry Lee Flenory — one of the founders of the Black Mafia Family — above a comment from Billups that reads: “Always love bro. Great times ahead. Happy for u…” Earnest, who has been an accused felon since he was 17, has ties to the Black Mafia Family, a nationwide drug trafficking organization, according to the report. Billups, who was indicted last week in federal court in Portland, is due to appear at 10 a.m. on Nov. 24 at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, presumably with Mukasey by his side.
