Earnest admitted agreeing with another person to place an illegal basketball bet and participation in rigged poker games on October 22, with sentencing scheduled for 2027.
Eric Earnest pleaded guilty in federal court in New York on October 22, 2026, in two separate fraud cases involving NBA betting and rigged poker games, ESPN reported. The pleas establish his criminal responsibility but do not resolve the charges against the remaining defendants.
The betting case concerns the alleged use of information unavailable to the public before a basketball game. The indictment alleged that an unnamed co-conspirator told Earnest the Portland Trail Blazers would not be trying to win and that certain players would not play against the Chicago Bulls on March 24, 2023.
Earnest pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud—an agreement to carry out fraud using electronic communications. He told the court he agreed with another person to place an illegal bet on an NBA game through a betting operator around March 24, 2023.
Federal prosecutor David Berman said the government would have proved that the unnamed co-conspirator was an NBA head coach at the time and supplied inside information to others who bet on a game. Berman did not name that person. ESPN reported that the indictment’s biographical description matched the career of former NBA player and head coach Chauncey Billups.
Our position is that Chauncey Billups did not at any time provide inside information to Mr. Earnest that he used to place any bets.
Brill called this a “fundamental disagreement” with the government. Billups is not charged in the betting case. He is charged in the separate poker case and has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer declined to comment to ESPN on Brill’s statement.
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At a separate hearing that day, Earnest pleaded guilty to wire fraud. He admitted playing in poker games that were rigged against certain players beginning in April 2019.
Federal prosecutor Michael Gibaldi said he was prepared to show that Earnest participated in games using shuffling machines that could help predict players’ hands. According to the prosecution’s account, that information would then be passed to people allegedly involved in cheating.
Prosecutors estimated the following prison ranges under federal sentencing guidelines, which guide sentencing decisions. These estimates are not imposed sentences.
| Case | Estimated prison range | Sentencing date |
|---|---|---|
| Inside-information betting | 30–37 months | April 15, 2027 |
| Poker | 63–78 months | March 4, 2027 |
Those guideline estimates differ from the maximum penalties allowed by law. ESPN reported a maximum of 20 years in prison and three years of supervised release for each conspiracy-to-commit-wire-fraud count, along with fines of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss.
The remaining defendants in the two cases, including NBA player Terry Rozier and Billups, are scheduled for trial in early 2027.
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