https://abcnews.go.com/US/damon-jones-pleads-not-guilty-gambling-cases/story?id=127256298

Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones pleaded not guilty Thursday to criminal conspiracy charges in a pair of federal gambling cases.

In one case, Jones, a former Cleveland Cavaliers guard, is accused of feeding inside information to sports bettors.

The indictment alleged that Jones encouraged a criminal partner to make a "big bet on Milwaukee" before the Bucks played a game on Feb. 9, 2023, against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Jones knew star LeBron James would not play due to a lower body injury and tipped off someone identified as Co-Conspirator 9 ahead of the official injury report.

"Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out!" Jones allegedly said in a text message to Co-Conspirator 9.

He is among several people charged, along with Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, in the sports betting case.

In the second case, Jones is accused of luring unsuspecting players to rigged poker tables and defrauding them out of millions. Games were organized beginning in 2019 in the Hamptons, Manhattan, Las Vegas and Miami, officials said.

Jones, along with NBA Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups, allegedly served as "Face Cards," according to the indictment, which stated that in some instances "well-known former professional athletes" were used to "attract the victims" to participate in the rigged poker games and "received a portion of the criminal proceeds in exchange for their participation in the scheme."

For one such game in East Hampton in September 2023, Jones allegedly asked for payment even before the game started, according to the indictment, which quoted a text to co-defendant Robert Stroud saying, "Hey Rob can u send one of those wires on ur phone? I don't know how much the job pays tomorrow but can I get a 10k advance on it?? GOD really blessed me that u have action for me cause I needed it today bad."

Stroud allegedly sent $2,500 to Jones via Zelle, according to the indictment.

More than 30 people have been charged in connection with the alleged poker scheme.

Jones appeared in Brooklyn federal court on Thursday in a dark suit, blue shirt, no tie and sipped from an orange Gatorade purchased in the courthouse coffee shop.

He pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Judge Ramon Reyes said Jones is considering negotiating with prosecutors to change his plea before the case heads to trial.

Jones was released on a $200,000 bond secured by his parents in Houston. They put up their house as collateral. He was ordered to have no contact with his co-defendants, witnesses and members of organized crime.

Stroud, of Louisville, Kentucky, also pleaded not guilty on Thursday to wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and robbery conspiracy.

Stroud allegedly organized a gunpoint robbery to steal a specific model of a rigged shuffling machine that his co-defendants wanted to use in the illegal poker games, according to the indictment.

A federal magistrate ordered him released on a $100,000 unsecured bond and told Stroud he could have no contact with organized crime and is not allowed to gamble while on home incarceration.

"The evidence is increasingly strong that the defendant is a primary organizer of the rigged poker scheme,” prosecutor Sean Sherman said, adding that a search of a residence in Florida that Stroud owns turned up poker chips, a poker table and hidden cameras in the vents consistent with the rigged games.

In the sports betting case, Marves Fairley, a sports betting influencer, also pleaded not guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy on Thursday.

The indictment alleged Rozier fed information to Fairley and others that he would exit a game early, and Fairley then placed $200,000 in prop bets predicting Rozier's "under" statistics.

Fairley was released on a $200,000 bond that was secured by his wife, his pastor and the superintendent of schools in Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi, where Fairley lives.