NEW YORK — Former NBA player Jontay Porter pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a federal criminal case tied to the betting scandal that led to his ban from the league earlier this year.
The former Toronto Raptors center entered the plea at his appearance in federal court in New York and was scheduled to be released on $250,000 bail.
His lawyer had previously said Porter was cooperating with authorities while receiving treatment for gambling addiction.
Court documents showed the case against Porter is related to an ongoing case against four other men who have been indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud but have not yet entered a plea.
The men are accused of conspiring to profit from tips given to them by an NBA player that he would retire two games early. They or their relatives used that knowledge to place large bets that the player would perform poorly in those games, according to a court complaint filed when they were charged in June.
The complaint did not name the player, but the details were consistent with an NBA investigation that led to Porter's ban from the league this spring. The league found he was betting on NBA games and giving bettors confidential information about his health.
In court Wednesday, Porter said he agreed to take early retirement from gambling to clear himself of large gambling debts so he and his co-conspirators could win bets on his performance.
“I know what I did was wrong, it was illegal and I am deeply sorry,” he said.
Porter is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 18. He could face anywhere from just under 3 1/2 years in prison to just over four years. He is also likely to be ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution, in addition to possible fines.
According to the complaint, one of the four men pressured the player to settle his gambling debts by retiring from gambling early so that bets on his poor performance would pay off.
In a message in response to the man's instructions, the player wrote that if he did not carry out the plan, “you hate me and if I don't get you $8,000 by Friday you will come to Toronto to beat the shit out of me.”
After notifying some of the men, the player claimed injury or illness and withdrew from the Jan. 26 and March 20 games after only a few minutes on the court, according to the complaint.
Porter played only briefly on those dates before complaining of injury or illness and leaving the games. His points, rebounds and assists in both games were below bookmakers' expectations.
After the NBA and other agencies began investigating, the player texted some of the men telling them they “might get hit wa rico,” an apparent reference to the common acronym for a federal racketeering charge under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, according to the complaint against them. It said the player also asked the men if they had deleted “all the material” from their phones.
The NBA investigation found that Porter not only left at least one game for the sake of bettors, but also bet on NBA games he did not play in. He once bet against his own team, according to the league.
Porter, 24, 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 approximately $410,000.
