Mahmud Mollah, one of five people charged with wire fraud in the Jontay Porter prop bet scheme, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy on Wednesday.
According to the Associated Press, he faces anywhere from no jail time to up to 20 years in prison and will be sentenced on May 2. That makes Mollah the third person to plead guilty following Long Phi Pham and Porter himself, who will be sentenced on Dec. 18. Two other men have been charged but have not yet entered pleas.
The scheme, which resulted in Porter receiving a lifetime ban from the NBA, was carried out last season when Porter was a member of the Toronto Raptors. Bettors placed large prop bets on Porter’s statistics in two known games: a Jan. 26 matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers and a March 20 game against the Sacramento Kings.
In both instances, there was abnormal betting volume on the “under” in several statistical categories for Porter. In both instances, Porter was removed from the game early. In the Clippers game, it was due to an eye injury. In the Kings game, it was because of an illness.
According to court documents, Mollah knew of Porter’s plans to remove himself from the March 20 game and placed bets that would have yielded over $1 million to be split among the involved parties. The activity raised the suspicions of a betting company, ultimately prompting the NBA’s investigation.
The NBA has taken steps to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. Aside from Porter’s lifetime ban, the league also reportedly reached an agreement with its gambling partners earlier this month to remove prop bets on players who are on either 10-day or two-way contracts, as such players earn the least money in the league and would theoretically be the most susceptible to such schemes. Porter was on a two-way deal with the Raptors last season, and he would later say that he participated “to get out from under large gambling debts.”
The league also revised its policy regarding cell phone use during games this season, and while that was primarily done to limit restrictions, it could also prove beneficial in maintaining the sport’s integrity. Thus far, Porter remains the only NBA player to be accused of participating in such a scheme.
