Ex-NBA player Damon Jones pleads guilty in federal illegal gambling probe

NEW YORK — Damon Jones, a former NBA player and assistant coach, became the first to plead guilty among the 34 defendants in the Department of Justice’s sprawling NBA gambling and poker game ring cases. Jones pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Brooklyn federal courthouse to two charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud — one for his role in an NBA illegal sports betting scheme and another for participating in a rigged poker game ring — that were brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York last fall.Advertisement