Federal prosecutors and the FBI have arrested a Brooklyn man implicated in a betting scheme involving former NBA player Jontay Porter, who was expelled from the league earlier this year. The arrest was confirmed through NBA league records and a criminal complaint filed by prosecutors in Brooklyn, according to NBC New York.
Long Phi Pham, also known as “Bruce,” aged 38, was apprehended on Monday at JFK Airport. Pham had allegedly purchased a one-way ticket to Australia a day after federal investigators attempted to interview him. Then he appeared in federal court, where he was ordered to be detained, according to the FBI. Pham faces charges of wire fraud, while three other individuals connected to the scheme remain at large, as stated by federal prosecutors.
The criminal complaint does not directly name the NBA player, but it references a player who played only four minutes on January 22, achieving three rebounds and one assist—statistics that match Jontay Porter’s performance on that date. The document also mentions an eye injury, which Porter had also reported. Additionally, the description of the banned NBA player in the complaint aligns with Porter’s circumstances.
Paying Off Gambling Debts
Porter has not been charged in this particular complaint but has been permanently banned by the NBA earlier this year. According to the charging documents, Porter “had amassed significant gambling debts” to Pham and others. One of the individuals still at large allegedly encouraged Porter to clear these debts by “withdrawing from certain games prematurely to ensure that under prop bets on [Porter’s] performance were successful.”
The complaint states, “Video footage of the January 26 Game neither shows any contact with Player 1’s eyes, nor any apparent reaggravation of the eye injury,” adding that Porter “did not subsequently complain to team officials about the purported eye injury after the January 26 Game and played in his team’s next game two days later.” The defendants allegedly placed bets on the game, earning over $100,000 in profits.
The scheme purportedly resurfaced in March of this year when Pham and the others met at an unnamed casino in Atlantic City. They placed bets on Porter following his notification via Telegram that he would leave the game early on March 20, citing illness, according to the documents.
Surveillance photos included in the complaint allegedly show the defendants at the casino. The documents also indicate that Porter was to receive a percentage of the profits for his participation in the scheme.
When Pham was arrested at JFK Airport, the FBI reported that he was in possession of “approximately $12,000 in cash; two cashier’s checks totaling $80,000; a series of betting slips; and three cellular phones.” If convicted, Pham could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
