Eric Earnest, lead defendant in the Brooklyn NBA betting fraud case, will plead guilty on October 22, federal prosecutors announced.
Four sportsbooks, and none of them named
The US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York has identified four commercial sportsbook operators as victims of the scheme, and the government has not named any of them. Over a 16-month period through March 2024, Earnest and co-conspirators allegedly used non-public locker-room information on undisclosed injuries and tanking strategies to inform a betting syndicate’s wagers, prosecutors allege. A joint FBI and NYPD task force has examined betting irregularities in as many as seven NBA games dating back to 2023.
For the sportsbooks involved, the plea means admitted victims in a federal fraud case whose scale prosecutors say spanned more than a season of play. How the wagers moved through these books undetected for that long is not addressed in the filings.
The plea hearing is scheduled before US Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Marutollo, two days after the NBA regular season begins on October 20. Earnest faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. In a letter to Marutollo, US Attorney Joseph Nocella wrote: “The defendant knowingly and willfully participated in the scheme or artifice to defraud, with knowledge of its fraudulent nature and with specific intent to defraud.”
How the scheme worked, per prosecutors
In the alleged scheme’s best-known play, prosecutors say associates of NBA player Terry Rozier placed more than $200,000 on wagers tied to his performance before he exited a March 23, 2023 Charlotte Hornets loss to the New Orleans Pelicans after nine minutes with an apparent foot injury. Rozier denies the charges, and a later indictment accuses him of accepting a $100,000 bribe, which he also denies. In another alleged incident, a co-conspirator told Earnest that the Portland Trail Blazers planned to rest players before a March 24, 2023 game the team lost 124-96 to Chicago, and more than $100,000 was wagered against Portland, prosecutors say. Former Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups denies all charges through his attorney Marc Mukasey; his trial is set for early 2027.
Where the case stands
Earnest would be the third defendant to plead guilty. Former NBA player Damon Jones was the first, followed by Marves Fairley in May 2026. Earnest, Shane Hennen and Jones are the only defendants charged in both the betting case and the parallel illegal poker case, United States vs Aiello, in which prosecutors said Earnest also intends to plead guilty. The scandal led to 34 arrests in October 2025. Earnest previously served 151 months in prison after a 2008 conviction for money laundering and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. His lead attorney, Peter Brill, did not respond to a request for comment.
Renata Kovacs has spent the better part of a decade following the regulatory shifts and licensing battles that define how gambling markets open, close, and evolve across Europe and beyond. She came up through the legal and compliance side of the industry before shifting her focus to journalism and analysis, giving her a perspective that sits closer to the operator room than the press box. Her coverage tends to cut through the noise and get straight to what a regulatory change actually means for the businesses and players involved.