Porter facing federal charges for alleged sports gambling operation

Former Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter will face federal charges for his role in an alleged sports gambling operation that has already seen four others charged.

Porter will face a felony charge, filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Easter District of New York in Brooklyn. A spokesperson for the United States Office of the Eastern District of New York confirmed the felony charge. A filing made in federal court Tuesday indicated that he would be the defendant in a case brought by the Department of Justice. An arrest warrant, according to the filing, has not been ordered yet.

Four men were charged last month with conspiracy to defraud a sports betting company. Porter was not named as a defendant but was understood to be Player 1 in the criminal complaint that outlined their alleged scheme.

The NBA banned Porter in April for his part in the betting scandal. The league, and the federal government, said that he intentionally compromised his play so that others could win money while betting on the under on prop bets involving him for games on Jan. 26 and March 20. He also bet on NBA games, the league said.

According to the complaint, Porter is alleged to have owed large gambling debts and saw his opportunity to erase them by helping them win bets on him. He told one defendant that he would remove himself from the Jan. 26 game with an injury after he suffered an eye injury in the Raptors’ previous game. He played just four minutes on that night.

Porter also told the others in a group chat that he would take himself out early from the March 20 game by saying he was ill. He ended up playing just three minutes in that game against the Sacramento Kings.

The bettors won more than $1 million on Porter’s prop bets, according to the complaint filed by the federal government, including one $80,000 parlay that won $1.1 million.

Required reading

(Photo: John E. Sokolowski / USA Today)