Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter (34) reacts after a play in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, March 11, 2024. File photo by Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
NEW YORK (AP) — Former NBA player Jontay Porter admitted Wednesday that he planned to take himself out of the games for the sake of gambling, pleading guilty to a federal felony count of conspiracy in the scandal that had already barred him from the championship.
READ MORE: NBA suspends Jontay Porter after gambling probe shows he shared information, bet on games
“I know what I did was wrong, illegal and I’m deeply sorry,” the former Toronto Raptors center said as he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Echoing the findings of an NBA investigation and allegations in an ongoing prosecution of four other men, Porter acknowledged that he agreed to retire from games early so co-conspirators could win bets on his performance.
He did it, he said, “to get out of big gambling debts.”
Porter, 24, is free on $250,000 bond pending his Dec. 18 sentencing.
Prosecutors estimated his sentence at a range of just under three and a half years in prison to just over four years. Ultimately, it will be up to a judge, who could impose anything from zero to 20 years behind bars. Porter is also likely to be assessed hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution and fines.
He and his lawyer left court without speaking to reporters. The attorney, Jeff Jensen, later declined by email to comment beyond a statement he made last month in which he said Porter was “in over his head with a gambling addiction.”
“Jontay is a good young man with a strong faith that will see him through this,” Jensen said at the time.
Porter told the court he has undergone inpatient rehab for a gambling problem and remains in treatment.
In a related case, four other men are accused of conspiring to get tips from an NBA player that he was going to retire two games early. They or their relatives used the knowledge to place large bets that the athlete would not do well in those matches, according to a court complaint filed when they were charged in June. They haven’t made any requests yet.
The complaint against them did not name the player. However, the details were combined with the NBA’s investigation finding that Porter gave players confidential health information, walked out of at least one game due to betting and bet on NBA games in which he did not play. He once bet against his team, the league said.
According to the complaint, one of the four men pressured the player to clear his gambling debts by leaving games early so that his underperforming bets would pay off.
In a message responding to the man’s instructions, the player wrote that if he didn’t follow through on the plan, “you hate me and if I don’t get you 8k by Friday, you’re coming to Toronto to beat me.”
After informing some of the men, the player claimed an injury or illness and left the Jan. 26 and March 20 games after minutes on the field, the complaint said.
Porter played only briefly on these dates before complaining of injury or illness and pulling out of the games. His points, rebounds and assists in both games fell short of sportsbook expectations.
According to the complaint, some of the alleged conspirators agreed in advance to share about a quarter of the winnings from the March 20 game with the player. A gambler was well on his way to pocketing more than $1 million before a betting company got suspicious and stopped him from taking most of the money.
After the NBA and others began investigating, the player texted some of the men that they “might get hit wa rico,” an apparent reference to the common acronym for a federal racketeering charge, according to the complaint against them. He said the player also asked the men if they had deleted “everything” from their phones.
Porter averaged 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 26 games this season, including five starts. He also played in 11 games for the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2020–21 season.
His NBA salary was about $410,000.
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Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter (34) reacts after a play in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, March 11, 2024. File photo by Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters