Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones pleaded guilty on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in Brooklyn federal court.
Jones becomes the first person to enter a guilty plea in a sweeping gambling investigation that has led to more than 30 arrests and implicated current and former NBA players, coaches and members of organized crime.
Jones, 49, faces a sentencing range of 21 to 27 months in prison under federal guidelines.
He also agreed to forfeit $35,000. His sentencing is set for January 6, 2027 before Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall.
He was one of the few defendants charged in both of the case’s two underlying schemes, a sports betting operation involving insider injury information and a separate rigged poker ring, and none of the other defendants in either case have shown any willingness to follow him to the plea table.
In a prepared statement to the court, Jones said:
“I would like to sincerely apologize to the court, my family, my peers and also the National Basketball Association.”
He acknowledged that he conspired with others to defraud sports betting companies by using insider information he obtained through his position in the game.
What Was Jones Charged With?
The charges against Jones break into two separate schemes.
The sports betting case centers on his use of nonpublic injury information about LeBron James and Anthony Davis, two of the most famous and heavily bet-upon athletes in the world, to help gamblers place wagers before that information became public.
The most specific allegation involves James. On February 9, 2023, Jones texted an unnamed co-conspirator: “Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out.”
At the time he sent the text, James was not listed on the Lakers’ injury report. Jones was serving as an unofficial, unpaid assistant coach for the Lakers that season.
He had access to the team’s medical and availability information that the public did not yet have.
James was later ruled out of the game with a lower body injury. The Lakers lost 115-106 to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The text was sent just two days after James scored 38 points to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer on February 7, the game that made him more famous and more heavily bet-upon than ever.
The Anthony Davis allegation involves a January 15, 2024 incident. Sports bettor Marves Fairley paid Jones approximately $2,500 for a tip that Davis would see limited playing time against the Oklahoma City Thunder because of an injury.
Fairley placed a $100,000 bet on the Thunder to win. The tip was wrong. Davis played his normal minutes, scored 27 points and pulled down 15 rebounds in a 112-105 Lakers win. Fairley then demanded his $2,500 back from Jones.
The poker scheme is a separate criminal operation. Prosecutors say Jones was among a group of former NBA players used specifically to lure unsuspecting gamblers into poker games that had been systematically rigged.
The rigging infrastructure was elaborate. Altered shuffling machines, hidden cameras, special sunglasses, and X-ray equipment that had been built directly into the gaming tables.
Jones was paid $2,500 for his participation in one game held in the Hamptons, where he was instructed to cheat by watching the other players carefully and folding his hand when in doubt.
His reaction to those instructions, prosecutors say, was a text message, “Y’all know I know what I’m doing!!”
The Sweep And Who Else Is In It
Jones’s plea is significant because of who has not yet pleaded guilty. More than 30 people were arrested in the sweep, including reputed mobsters and other basketball figures.
The most notable co-defendants remain active in their cases without any indication of a deal.
Terry Rozier, who was playing for the Miami Heat at the time of his arrest last October, faces charges that prosecutors expanded on Monday. At a hearing on April 27, prosecutors said they were seeking superseding charges of bribery in sports and honest services wire fraud, alleging Rozier solicited and received a bribe as part of the scheme.
The specific allegation is that Rozier deliberately took himself out of a game so that gamblers could cash out on his statistical “under” propositions.
Rozier’s attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss the original wire fraud charges, arguing the theory is based on legal precedent the Supreme Court has already rejected.
Chauncey Billups, the Basketball Hall of Famer and head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, was arrested alongside Jones and Rozier last October. He continues to coach Portland and has shown no willingness to plead guilty.
None of the other defendants in either the poker case or the sports betting case have moved toward a plea. Jones changed that on Tuesday.
Who Is Damon Jones?
Jones is 49 years old and was born in Galveston, Texas. He played professional basketball for 11 seasons from 1999 to 2009, appearing for 10 different teams and earning more than $20 million during his playing career.
His most recognizable basketball connection is his time alongside LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005 to 2008, the same franchise where Jones later served as an assistant coach and won an NBA championship ring when Cleveland defeated the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.
After his playing career ended, Jones moved into coaching.
His connection to James remained close enough that for the 2022-23 season, he served as an unofficial, unpaid member of the Los Angeles Lakers coaching staff, a role that gave him access to the organization’s internal information, including injury availability that had not yet been reported publicly.
That access is what federal prosecutors say he monetized.
He was arraigned at Brooklyn federal court on November 24, 2025, when he initially pleaded not guilty to both indictments.
His lawyer Kenneth Montgomery told a judge at that arraignment that they “may be engaging in plea negotiations.”
Six months later, on Tuesday, that process concluded with Jones pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
He will be sentenced in January 2027. At that hearing, the judge will decide whether the 21-to-27 month sentencing guideline range applies, whether Jones receives credit for any cooperation, and what the final punishment looks like for the first person in the NBA’s largest gambling scandal to admit guilt in court.
