BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Eric Earnest, a key co-conspirator in the inside information gambling case involving NBA player Terry Rozier, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in federal court Thursday, but his attorney said after the hearing that his client did not receive inside information from former NBA player and head coach Chauncey Billups.
Federal authorities alleged in the indictment that an unnamed co-conspirator told Earnest that the Portland Trail Blazers would be tanking and that certain Portland players would not play before a March 24, 2023, game against the Chicago Bulls. The co-conspirator was described in the indictment as an Oregon resident who was “an NBA player from approximately 1997 through 2014, and an NBA coach since at least 2021,” details that align with Billups’ career.
During his plea hearing, Earnest, 54, told the court that he “agreed with another person to place an illegal bet on an NBA game with a sportsbook” around March 24, 2023.
Assistant U.S. attorney David Berman said the government would have proved the co-conspirator was an NBA head coach at the time of the wager and had given inside information to others who bet on an NBA game. Berman did not name the co-conspirator, who was not charged in the case.
But after the hearing, Earnest’s attorney, Peter Brill, told reporters, “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 described the allegation that Billups had provided Earnest with the information as a “fundamental disagreement” with the government.
Billups’ attorney, Marc Mukasey, told ESPN on Thursday afternoon he had no comment about Brill’s statement. Billups was not charged in the inside information case.
In a separate hearing Thursday, Earnest also pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a case involving allegedly rigged poker games in which Billups was charged. Billups has pleaded not guilty.
Earnest admitted to playing in poker games that “were rigged against certain players” beginning in April 2019. Federal prosecutor Michael Gibaldi told the court he was prepared to show Earnest participated in games with shuffling machines that could help predict the hands of players at the table. That information would then be communicated to those allegedly involved in cheating.
Earnest could receive a maximum of 20 years in prison and three years of supervised release for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud along with maximum fines of $250,000 or double the gross gain or loss.
Prosecutors estimated based on federal sentencing guidelines that Earnest could face a sentence of 30 to 37 months in prison for the inside information case and 63 to 78 months for the poker case.
Earnest is scheduled for sentencing in the poker games case on March 4, 2027, and the inside information case on April 15, 2027. The remaining defendants in the two cases, including Rozier and Billups, are scheduled for trial in early 2027.
ESPN’s David Purdum contributed to this report.
