Ex-NBA Player Damon Jones Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud

Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones pleaded guilty Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, becoming the first defendant to do so in a wide-ranging gambling investigation that resulted in more than 30 arrests last October.

Jones, 49, entered the plea during back-to-back hearings before Magistrate Judge Joseph Marutollo. In a prepared statement to the court, he admitted conspiring with others from December 2022 to March 2024 to defraud sports betting companies using nonpublic information about NBA player injuries that he obtained through his relationships in the league. "I would like to sincerely apologize to the court, my family, my peers and also the National Basketball Association," Jones said. Prosecutors detailed how he sold or attempted to sell insider knowledge, including details on injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis that affected their playing time in Los Angeles Lakers games.

The plea carries sentencing guidelines of 21 to 27 months in prison. Jones faces sentencing on January 6 before Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall and has agreed to forfeit $35,000. He remains free on bail with conditions barring him from gambling,...