Damon Jones, a longtime NBA vet and friend of LeBron James, entered a guilty plea in federal court on Tuesday for his role in the blockbuster federal gambling probe that rocked the NBA last year.
Jones, 49, was arrested along with Pistons’ legend Chauncey Billups, Heat guard Terry Rozier, and several others, as part of a mob-linked betting scheme in which he is accused of leaking information to bettors.
Jones admitted to using “insider information that [he] obtained as a result of my relationships as a former player.”
“I would like to sincerely apologize to the court, my family, my peers, and also the National Basketball Association,” Jones said in a statement he read in court Tuesday via the New York Post.
The insider information that Jones provided to gamblers primarily consisted of undisclosed medical reports and player availability. Among the players that Jones dished on were LeBron James and Anthony Davis, both of whom he had a relationship with.
Jones served as an unofficial coach for the Lakers from 2022 to 2023. The former NBA player admitted to providing insider information from 2022 to 2024.
On Tuesday, Jones admitted to wire fraud charges. In September, he will face sentencing that could put him in jail for 27 months.
That’s not the end of his trouble, Jones also faces charges of using his fame as a former NBA player to lure players into rigged, high-stakes poker games, a charge he is also expected to plead guilty to.
Neither Billups nor Rozier have plead guilty to the charges facing them.