Jontay Porter, the former Toronto Raptors forward who was banned for life from the NBA over a sports betting scandal, was “over his head” with a gambling addiction, his lawyer confirmed Friday.
Jeff Jensen, a government investigations attorney in St. Louis, also said in a statement received by The Associated Press that Porter is cooperating with the investigation.
“Jontay is a good kid with great faith that will get him through this. He was in over his head with a gambling addiction. “He is under treatment and has fully cooperated with officers,” Jensen said.
This was the first comment since the league’s investigation found that Porter gave confidential information to sports bettors and bet on games, including that the Raptors would lose.
A fourth person was arrested Friday as part of the sports betting scandal that led to Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter’s ban from the NBA.
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Ammar Awawdeh, 32, surrendered following the arrests this week of three other defendants. The court’s lawsuit accuses Awawdeh of pressuring the athlete, who was identified only as “Player 1,” to pay off his betting debt by leaving games early. The tactic, which both called “special” would guarantee that those who bet on him to perform poorly would receive a payout.
Using an encrypted messaging app, Awawdeh wrote this year that he was “forcing” the player to do what he asked, telling him to “Take a screenshot,” according to the lawsuit.
Awawdeh, who runs a series of his family’s stores in New York, was arraigned and released on $100,000 bail and will be under house arrest with an ankle monitor. His attorney, Alan Gerson, declined to comment on the allegations.
Porter has not been charged and was not even named in the lawsuit. But the details of Player 1 are similar to those of the NBA investigation that resulted in him being banned for life in April. The league found him guilty of betting on NBA games in which he did not participate and of leaving early in at least one game so that a bettor who received the information would win a million dollars.
Awawdeh and the other defendants — Timothy McCormack, Mahmud Mollah and Long Phi Pham — used knowledge of Player 1’s scheme to have themselves or their family members bet large sums on their performances on January 26 and March 20, according to the complaint.
2024-06-08 18:20:00
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