CHICAGO (WGN) — The storm surrounding the NBA’s gambling world just got darker.
According to newly unsealed federal court documents, the massive sports betting scandal now stretches into Chicago — with wagers allegedly placed on a Bulls game from March 2023 using insider information that never should have left the locker room.
The 2023 matchup between the Chicago Bulls and the Portland Trail Blazers — once just another late-season clash — is now a flashpoint in a federal probe exposing what prosecutors call “a web of deceit, greed, and betrayal” woven through professional basketball.
Authorities have charged 35-year-old Eric “Spook” Earnest, 33-year-old Marves “Vez” Fairley, and 31-year-old Shane “Sugar” Hennen with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. The trio allegedly used confidential team information, passed from NBA insiders, to orchestrate illegal bets worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Court filings detail a stunning sequence of events: before the March 24, 2023 game, a then-NBA coach — labeled “Co-Conspirator 8” — allegedly told Earnest that the Trail Blazers planned to “tank” the matchup to improve their draft odds. That coach, a longtime friend of Earnest, revealed that several of Portland’s top players would sit out, long before that information became public.
Armed with that knowledge, prosecutors say Earnest’s group rushed to place bets — and directed others to do the same — wagering nearly $100,000 on the Bulls to win. When the Blazers later announced that four of their top scorers would miss the game, betting lines shifted dramatically. The early wagers hit big. The Bulls won in a blowout, 124-96.
Investigators stressed that no Bulls players or coaches are implicated in the scheme. But the Chicago game, they said, highlights how deep insider manipulation may have reached — from locker rooms to high-stakes betting circles.
The indictment also names Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, accused of feeding confidential injury details to his longtime friend Deniro Laster. Prosecutors allege that during a game on March 23, 2023, while Rozier was still with the Charlotte Hornets, he tipped off Laster that he planned to leave early with a “minor injury.”
The information was allegedly used to place over $200,000 in bets predicting Rozier would underperform. He exited after just nine minutes — and the wagers paid off.
According to investigators, Laster then drove through the night to Rozier’s home to split the profits — cash counted, bills stacked. The Pelicans won that game 115-96.
And the case doesn’t stop there. Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups — once a respected NBA Finals MVP — was also arrested Thursday, charged with helping orchestrate rigged high-stakes poker games tied to La Cosa Nostra crime families. Those games allegedly cheated players out of more than $7 million.
Former Lakers assistant and ex-player Damon Jones — known for his close ties to LeBron James — was also swept up in the case. He faces similar wire fraud and money laundering charges, accused of leaking injury information to benefit bettors.
The NBA released a brief statement confirming that both Billups and Rozier have been placed on leave, adding that the league “takes these matters with the utmost seriousness.”
The revelations have ignited one of the most significant scandals in modern sports history, shaking fan trust and reigniting questions about the integrity of professional basketball in an era where sports betting is legal — and everywhere.
As federal agents dig deeper and more names emerge, the question now looms: How far did it go — and who’s next?
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