On Tuesday evening, the Department of Justice announced the arrest of a man in Brooklyn, New York, in connection with the case.
Even though Porter was not specifically named in the DOJ report, the details of the gambling scheme were the same as those that the NBA had made public when it imposed a lifetime ban in April.
The statement describes the arrest of a man named Long Phi Pham, sometimes known as “Bruce,” who is accused of collaborating with others to defraud a sports betting organization by betting on a former NBA player, thought to be Porter, in games on January 26 and March 20, 2024.
While attempting to leave the nation for Australia, Pham was arrested on Monday and is now being held in detention until his trial. The DOJ said that three additional co-conspirators in the case remain at large.
According to the statement, during the Jan. 26 game, one unidentified NBA player was “encouraged” not to participate to pay off a substantial gambling debt. That is consistent with the facts published by the NBA, in which Porter played just four minutes and scored zero points, essentially hitting the “under” in the prop bet put on him.
According to the DOJ, Porter called Pham in advance and informed him that he would withdraw from the game. Several co-conspirators then bet, knowing Porter would not participate for most of the game, with a relative of one of the co-conspirators wagering $10,000 and earning $85,000 on Porter prop bets.
Pham discussed Porter’s early exit from the March 20 game with his co-conspirators. He and his co-conspirators then gambled in Atlantic City, intending to share the proceeds. Between the two games, Pham and his pals made more than $1 million.
According to the statement, Porter texted Pham and others involved in the betting scam on April 4th about the possibility of problems, saying, “I might just get hit by a rico,” alluding to being charged with racketeering. Porter also texted to ensure that the conspirators had “deleted all the stuff” from their phones regarding the betting scam.
The NBA’s investigation into Porter’s actions led to his lifelong suspension on April 17. The charges against Porter included “disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games.” The league discovered that Porter “disclosed confidential information about his health status” to someone he knew to be a sports bettor. After multiple Porter prop bets were made, regulated sports betting companies saw suspicious behavior and reported it to the league office, which prompted the inquiry.
In addition to revealing information to sports bettors, the NBA discovered that Porter “placed at least 13 bets on NBA games using an associate’s online betting account” from January to March 2024. Overall, Porter staked $54,094 and got a payoff of $76,059, resulting in a profit of $21,965. Porter made no wagers on games in which he was participating, but he did include the Raptors in three multi-game parlays, one of which he chose Toronto to lose.
Aside from the lifetime suspension from the league, there has been no further penalty for Porter’s involvement in this issue.
