The games, which were usually Texas Hold ‘Em and played in New York and locations across 11 other US states, dated back to at least 2019.<\/p>\n
The scam was orchestrated by a cast of accomplices who made up “cheating teams” that used concealed technologies and secret signals to fix poker games in their favour.<\/p>\n
The face cards<\/p>\n
To capture their fish, prosecutors say the mob families first needed a hook.<\/p>\n
Enter the “face cards”. These were a set of high-profile athletes and coaches who were allegedly recruited to attract wealthy players to the games.<\/p>\n
These athletes were members of the cheating teams and would receive a portion of the winnings in exchange for their cachet.<\/p>\n
Chauncey Billups Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups leaves a federal court after his appearance on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo\/Jenny Kane)(AP: Jenny Kane)<\/p>\n
Nickname: None<\/p>\n
Affiliation: Portland Trail Blazers head coach, NBA Hall of Fame<\/p>\n
State: Oregon<\/p>\n
Background: Billups played for almost two decades in the NBA after being picked by the Boston Celtics in 1997. He went on to play for multiple other teams, including the Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers.<\/p>\n
In his career, he was a 2004 NBA Finals Champion and MVP and a five-time NBA All-Star. He began coaching in 2020 and joined Portland in 2021.<\/p>\n
Additional role<\/p>\n
Cheating team member<\/p>\n
Damon Jones Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones, left, leaves Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025 in Las Vegas. (Benjamin Hager\/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)(AP: Benjamin Hager\/Las Vegas Review-Journal)<\/p>\n
Nickname: None<\/p>\n
Affiliation: Former Cleveland Cavaliers combo guard, assistant coach<\/p>\n
State: Texas<\/p>\n
Background: Jones played for 10 different teams in the NBA throughout his career and is mostly known for his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers between 2005 and 2008.<\/p>\n
Additional role<\/p>\n
Cheating team member<\/p>\n
The intermediary<\/p>\n
To recruit face cards, the alleged crime ring first needed an introduction.<\/p>\n
That’s where prosecutors say the intermediary came in \u2014 a low-profile smooth-talker who could enlist big names who would attract wealthy victims to their tables.<\/p>\n
Robert L Stroud A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
Nickname: Black Rob<\/p>\n
Affiliation: None<\/p>\n
Past convictions<\/p>\n
Local media reports in the US claim that Stroud’s criminal history dates back to at least 1994.<\/p>\n
In that year, he was in the Jefferson Circuit Court in Kentucky for allegedly shooting a man dead during a night of gambling at a home in Louisville, WAVE News reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Additional roles<\/p>\n Cheating team member, organiser, supplier<\/p>\n The cheating teams<\/p>\n The ring needed more than just a face card at the table to pull off the ruse.<\/p>\n This is where the alleged “cheating teams” \u2014 the criminals making up the rest of the players in the games \u2014 came in.<\/p>\n They would be fed information about the cards on the table and work together to cheat the fish out of money.<\/p>\n Sometimes, prosecutors said in one court document, the corrupt players “tried to coordinate how to lose purposefully on occasion to keep the victim at the table for longer, or to avoid suspicion of cheating”.<\/p>\n A text message from “Big Mikey” to another person who was in on the scheme read: “Guys please let him win a hand he’s in for 40k in 40 minutes he will leave if he gets no traction,” according to court papers.<\/p>\n Nelson Alvarez Nickname: Spanish G<\/p>\n Affiliation: None<\/p>\n State: New York<\/p>\n Louis Apicella Nickname: Lou Ap<\/p>\n Affiliation: The Gambinos<\/p>\n State: New York<\/p>\n Eric Earnest Nickname: Spook<\/p>\n Affiliation: None<\/p>\n State: Missouri<\/p>\n Marco Garzon Nickname: None<\/p>\n Affiliation: None<\/p>\n State: New Jersey<\/p>\n Jamie Gilet Nickname: None<\/p>\n Affiliation: None<\/p>\n State: New York<\/p>\n Kenny Han Nickname: None<\/p>\n Affiliation: None<\/p>\n State: New York<\/p>\n Horatio Hu Nickname: H<\/p>\n Affiliation: None<\/p>\n State: New York<\/p>\n John Mazzola Nickname: John South<\/p>\n Affiliation: None<\/p>\n State: Georgia<\/p>\n Nicholas Minucci Nickname: None<\/p>\n Affiliation: The Gambinos<\/p>\n State: New York<\/p>\n Past convictions<\/p>\n Minucci was previously convicted on counts of robbery as a hate crime for an incident in which he beat a Black man in the head with a baseball bat.<\/p>\n He was sentenced to 25 years and was released on parole in 2018.<\/p>\n Michael Renzulli Nickname: None<\/p>\n Affiliation: None<\/p>\n State: New York<\/p>\n Sophia Wei Nickname: Pookie<\/p>\n Affiliation: None<\/p>\n State: New York<\/p>\n Background: Wei was known to socialise with celebrities and musicians as an artist who painted portraits for the rich and famous, including actor Kevin Hart, according to a New York Post report<\/a>.<\/p>\n Her social media accounts portrayed a carousel of influential stars, such as Drake, Ne-Yo and the sons of basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal.<\/p>\n The operator and the quarterback<\/p>\n So, how did the cheating teams know what cards were dealt and which plays to make?<\/p>\n Prosecutors say they had a crew working behind the scenes.<\/p>\n A person known as the “operator”, who was off-site during the games, would allegedly receive information relayed from rigged shuffling machines that were altered to read and predict who had the best hands.<\/p>\n They would pass that data via a mobile phone to someone in the poker room, known as the “quarterback”. That person would secretly give signals to the remaining members of the cheating team on how best to leverage the information.<\/p>\n Court documents do not identify which of the cheating teams’ members also acted as operators or quarterbacks.<\/p>\n The organisers<\/p>\n A handful of defendants in the indictment are accused of having orchestrated the rigged poker games in New York and other locations.<\/p>\n Ammar Awawdeh Nickname: Flappy, Flapper Poker<\/p>\n Affiliation: The Gambinos<\/p>\n State: New York<\/p>\n Saul Becher Nickname: None<\/p>\n Affiliation: None<\/p>\n State: New York<\/p>\n Zhen Hu Nickname: Scruli, Stanley<\/p>\n Affiliation: None<\/p>\n State: New York<\/p>\n Seth Trustman Nickname: None<\/p>\n Affiliation: The Luccheses<\/p>\n State: New York<\/p>\n Additional roles<\/p>\n Cheating team member<\/p>\n Past charges<\/p>\n In October 2009, Trustman was one of 19 people arrested over an illegal gambling, sports betting and loan-shark ring<\/a> being operated by the Lucchese mafia family.<\/p>\n At the time, prosecutors alleged that Trustman was involved in a criminal network that used coded language, nicknames and meeting locations impacted by loud background noise to conceal their crimes.<\/p>\n The suppliers<\/p>\n To pull off their alleged crimes, prosecutors say the ring used rigged technology to inform their moves at the poker tables.<\/p>\n The following men, as well as Robert L Stroud, were named in court documents as having supplied the cheating technology, including rigged card-shuffling machines, electronic poker chip trays, and card analysers.<\/p>\n Prosecutors also told reporters that the ring was alleged to have used a rigged X-ray table that was capable of taking secret images of cards that were placed face down.<\/p>\n Curtis Meeks Nickname: Curt<\/p>\n Affiliation: None<\/p>\n State: Texas<\/p>\n Tony Goodson Nickname: Black Tony<\/p>\n Affiliation: None<\/p>\n State: Georgia<\/p>\n Additional roles<\/p>\n Cheating team member<\/p>\n Shane Hennen Nickname: Sugar<\/p>\n Affiliation: None<\/p>\n State: Pennsylvania<\/p>\n Additional roles<\/p>\n Cheating team member<\/p>\n Past charges<\/p>\n Hennen spent more than two years in prison for drug charges and a stabbing assault, CNN reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n The muscle<\/p>\n For games held in the New York area, members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families would allegedly threaten and intimidate fish to make sure they paid their debts, and to protect the illegal games from competition elsewhere.<\/p>\n In exchange, the crime figures would get a cut of the winnings.<\/p>\n Some of the mafia members who acted as muscle also participated in cheating teams playing in the poker games.<\/p>\n Ernest Aiello Nickname: None<\/p>\n Affiliation: The Bonannos<\/p>\n Matthew Daddino Nickname: The Wrestler, Matty<\/p>\n Affiliation: The Genoveses<\/p>\n Lee Fama Nickname: None<\/p>\n Affiliation: The Gambinos<\/p>\n John Gallo Nickname: None<\/p>\n Affiliation: Gambinos<\/p>\n Additional role<\/p>\n Cheating team member, organiser<\/p>\n Thomas Gelardo Nickname: Juice<\/p>\n Affiliation: The Bonannos, the Genoveses<\/p>\n Joseph Lanni Nickname: Joe Brooklyn, Mommino<\/p>\n Affiliation: Alleged captain of the Gambinos<\/p>\n Past charges<\/p>\n In 2023, Lanni and other associates of the Gambino crime family were indicted on racketeering conspiracy, extortion and union-related corruption charges for attempting to “dominate” New York’s demolition and rubbish businesses<\/a>.<\/p>\n He pleaded guilty to the charges in October 2025.<\/p>\n Angelo Ruggiero Jr Nickname: None<\/p>\n Affiliation: The Gambinos<\/p>\n Past charges<\/p>\n In 2008, Ruggiero was charged with conspiracy to murder and attempted murder as part of a racketeering act.<\/p>\n Prosecutors alleged a victim was shot<\/a> by Ruggiero and other Gambino crime family members several times as he was leaving for work in 2003.<\/p>\n He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 84 months in prison.<\/p>\n Julius Ziliani Nickname: Jay<\/p>\n Affiliation: The Bonannos<\/p>\n The cleaner<\/p>\n Prosecutors allege the ring engaged in money laundering through shell companies and third parties to conceal the nature of the rigged games.<\/p>\n The indictment names Anthony Shnayderman as having played a key role in laundering the winnings, in return for a cut.<\/p>\n It’s alleged he and his associates received payments from the fish and paid others in the gambling ring through cash or cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n Anthony Shnayderman Nickname: Doc<\/p>\n Affiliation: None<\/p>\n State: New York<\/p>\n The fish<\/p>\n The identities of victims have remained anonymous, but authorities have revealed examples of how some people were defrauded of money they gambled during poker games.<\/p>\n In one case in April 2019 in Las Vegas, multiple people collectively lost as much as $US50,000 ($75,942) at a game that was also played and organised by Chauncey Billups, Eric Earnest, Jamie Gilet, Robert L Stroud and Sophia Wei.<\/p>\n Authorities say that collectively the fish were defrauded of at least $US7.15 million between 2019 and 2025.<\/p>\n Fish #1 In June and July 2023 in New York, a person only known as “John Doe #1” lost about $US1.8 million in a game orchestrated on behalf of the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese families.<\/p>\n Court documents allege that this person played poker games that were organised and participated in by seven members of the gambling ring, who used a rigged shuffling machine to trick their fish.<\/p>\n Prosecutors say that at least $100,000 of this victim’s money was illegally laundered by Anthony Shnayderman and his co-conspirators.<\/p>\n Fish #2 & #3 In June 2023 in East Hampton, New York, two other “John Doe” victims lost $US46,500 and $US105,000 respectively.<\/p>\n Prosecutors say these two people played in poker games that were organised and participated in by 10 members of the illegal gambling ring, who used a rigged shuffling machine.<\/p>\n Fish #4 In September 2024 in Miami, Florida, a fourth “John Doe” lost at least $US60,000.<\/p>\n Court documents allege this person played in a poker game that was organised and participated in by seven members of the illegal gambling ring, who used a rigged shuffling machine.<\/p>\n Fish #5, #6 and #7 While court documents do not detail some of the financial losses of some fish, they do reveal how members of the illegal betting ring pursued them to recoup money.<\/p>\n Prosecutors allege that “John Doe #5” was extorted by three members of the ring between November 2022 and February 2023 to settle a debt from poker games.<\/p>\n Between September and October 2023, the same happened to “John Doe #6”.<\/p>\n “John Doe #7” was not a participant in the poker games who was tricked into losing their money. Instead, they are alleged to have previously supplied rigged card-shuffling machines to the criminal network.<\/p>\n Prosecutors say that on September 7, 2023, this person was held up at gunpoint by multiple members of the ring who then stole a specific type of rigged shuffling machine that the network wanted to use.<\/p>\n The second fix<\/p>\n The FBI alleges that the mafia poker gambling ring was directly linked to the NBA.<\/p>\n A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
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A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
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A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
One of the rigged card shuffling machines prosecutors allege was used by the illegal gambling ring.(AP: U.S. Attorney’s Office)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
A graphic of an anonymous silhouette of a police mugshot(ABC News)<\/p>\n
Generic picture of a poker player with a 5 of diamonds and queen of hearts.(Flickr: Benjamin Lim)<\/p>\n
A couple of aces.(ABC News)<\/p>\n
An amateur player holds his cards during a competition of guandan, a poker-like card game, in Beijing, China August 13, 2023.(Reuters: Yew Lun Tian)<\/p>\n
Close-up of $1 US currency. Good American money generic, one dollar note generic. Brisbane, August 2023.(ABC News: Chris Gillette)<\/p>\n