Deputy Editor
The federal government continues to pile up guilty pleas in the high-profile case of rigged poker games and fixed NBA prop bets. As it does so, the walls seem to be closing in on disgraced former NBA legend Chauncey Billups, one of the remaining alleged cheaters who maintains his innocence.
The latest domino fell on Tuesday. Shane Hennen, an accused poker cheat with a shady past, was one of 12 people named by federal prosecutors as planning to plead guilty. In addition to Hennen, prosecuting attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. wrote that the following defendants will enter guilty pleas:
- Nelson Alvarez
- Louis Apicella
- John Gallo
- Marco Garzon
- Jamie Gilet
- Horatio Hu
- Zhen Hu
- Nicholas Minucci
- Michael Renzulli
- Angelo Ruggiero Jr.
- Julius Ziliani
All are connected to the rigged poker case, in which unsuspecting players were cheated out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in high-stakes private games. Suspects allegedly used a sophisticated system of signaling combined with knowledge of which seat held the winning hand.
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Shane Hennen a Key Figure in Poker Cheating Scheme
Hennen was among the most prominent of those names. Not only did Hennen participate in the cheating, but he also procured some of the cheating technology that the team relied upon to carry out the scheme.
In a feature interview with The New York Times published in June, Hennen acknowledged that the games were rigged. He justified the scheme by claiming that the “victims were trying to cheat the cheaters.” He painted a scene of drug use, prostitution, and a “wild, wild west” of the New York private games.
Hennen’s central role in the poker cheating means he’s a key part of the government’s case. He could provide key information to prosecutors that can help them secure more guilty pleas and/or convictions.
Will Chauncey Billups Continue Maintaining Innocence?
According to Front Office Sports, 19 of the 31 named defendants in the rigged poker indictment have now pleaded guilty. That paints an awfully clear picture that there were, in fact, rigged poker games. And Billups participated in those games, just as poker pro Matt Berkey said on his show years ago.
Questions remain about what role Billups is alleged to have played and what the growing number of guilty pleas means for him.
The fact that more than half of the indicted individuals have pleaded guilty can’t be a good sign for Billups, certainly. In addition to Hennen, key defendants pleading guilty include Billups’ fellow former NBA player Damon Jones and other members of the at-the-table cheating ring.
Through his attorney, Billups has maintained his innocence. He may plan to argue that he was simply invited to poker games and participated without knowledge of the rigging. However, that’s going to be a tough case to make if the government has double-digit witnesses naming him as part of the scheme.
Billups is supposed to stand trial Nov. 2. But the situation looks increasingly bleak for him, as ever more co-conspirators cop to their roles in the scheme.
Image credit: Dan Moyle/Flickr (license)
