Jontay Porter Pleads Guilty in NBA Betting Scandal (UPDATE)

UPDATED 7/10, 8:02 p.m. ET: Jontay Porter is pleading guilty for his involvement in an alleged betting scheme.

According to ESPN, the 24-year-old former NBA player entered his plea in New York on Wednesday to a federal conspiracy crime for intentionally claiming to be sick or injured to exit games early to aid co-conspirators in winning bets and make a profit.

"I know what I did was wrong, unlawful, and I am deeply sorry," said the former Toronto Raptors center while pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, per ESPN.

Porter, who told the court he underwent rehab for his gambling addiction and is currently in therapy, said he did it “to get out from under large gambling debts.”

He is currently free on a $250,000 bond and awaiting sentencing in December, which could range from no time to 20 years in prison. Porter may likely be responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and restitution.

Four other men involved in the scandal have yet to enter pleas.

The NBA also confirmed through its investigation that Porter provided confidential information to the suspects and even bet against his team once.

One gambler was reportedly set to collect over $1 million before a betting company became suspicious and stopped him from collecting the money.

Porter reportedly texted the gamblers that they “might just get hit w a rico” after the NBA began their investigation and asked them if they deleted “all the stuff” from their phones.

ESPN notes that Porter’s NBA salary was about $410,000.

UPDATED 7/4, 9:00 p.m. ET: Jontay Porter is expected to be charged with a federal felony for his role in the betting scandal that resulted in his lifetime ban from the NBA.

According to ESPN, a criminal information sheet was filed on Tuesday by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn for a case related to the four men charged last month for their involvement in a scheme in which wagers were made based on prior knowledge from a player.

A court date and formal charges are not included in the document.

While Porter has not been identified in the case, some information seems to suggest that he is the person being mentioned in the complaint as "Player 1."

Long Phi Pham, along with Ammar Awawdeh, Timothy McCormack and Mahmud Mollah, have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Awawdeh is accused of encouraging "Player 1" to commit a "special" in order to settle their "significant gambling debts." A "special" occurs when a player intentionally exits a game early, preventing them from reaching certain statistical marks and ensuring a successful wager for those betting the under.

"If I don't do a special with your terms. Then it's up," the player wrote in an encrypted message earlier this year, according to the complaint. "And u hate me and if I don't get u 8k by Friday you're coming to Toronto to beat me up."

Porter had been playing for the Toronto Raptors this past season, prior his ban.

"Player 1" allegedly told a few of the aforementioned men that he would be exiting games on Jan. 26 and March 20 early due to health issues. An NBA investigation found that Porter played only three minutes on March 20 before claiming he was sick and never returning.

See original story below.

Brooklyn man Long Phi Pham, 38, has been arrested over his connection to an NBA betting scheme that involved banned player Jontay Porter.

As reported by the New York Post, Long Phi Pham was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Monday, June 3 while attempting to board a flight to Australia with a one-way ticket. He has been accused of working Porter—who last played for the Toronto Raptors before he received a lifetime ban in April—to place "prop bets" on NBA players and their performance in the league.

Pham reportedly tried to flee the United States just one day after the government approached him for questioning. Upon his arrest, he was carrying a bag containing several betting slips, two cashier checks worth $8,000, and $12,000 in cash. He is facing up to 20 years in prison and has been arraigned on wire fraud charges.

Porter allegedly accumulated massive amounts in gambling debt alongside his co-conspirators earlier this year, who encouraged him to throw games in an effort to guarantee returns on bets to recover their funds. According to the complaint filed in Brooklyn, federal prosecutors said that Porter told Pham he was going to remove himself from the Jan. 26 game early by claiming he had an eye injury. He played four minutes in the game, which was against the Los Angeles Clippers. A co-conspirator won a $10,000 prop bet on the game.

Porter was officially banned from the NBA for gambling in April following an investigation by the league. Porter was "giving information about his own health status to an individual he knew to be an NBA bettor," the NBA stated.

One of the other games he was found to have conspired with others to bet on took place on March 20, during which Porter only played three minutes before sitting out due to a purported illness. He was also found to have placed at least 13 bets on NBA games using "an associate's online betting account" between January and March, during which time he was playing for the Raptors G-League affiliate.

"There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter's blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said upon news of Porter's ban. "While legal sports betting creates transparency that helps identify suspicious or abnormal activity, this matter also raises important issues about the sufficiency of the regulatory framework currently in place."