Jontay Porter, the former Toronto Raptors player, was banned from the NBA due to a gambling scandal, with his lawyer now revealing he struggled with gambling addiction.
Jontay Porter, the former Toronto Raptors forward who faced a lifetime NBA ban for his involvement in a sports betting scandal, was "in over his head" with a gambling addiction, his lawyer disclosed on Friday. Jeff Jensen, a government investigations attorney in St. Louis, highlighted Porter's cooperation with investigators and emphasized his strong faith in guiding him through this challenging time.
Jensen's statement marked the first public comment since an NBA probe found Porter had shared confidential information with sports bettors and wagered on games, including betting on the Raptors to lose. The league's investigation led to his lifetime ban in April.
Coinciding with Jensen's statement, a fourth individual, Ammar Awawdeh, was apprehended in connection with the scandal. Awawdeh, 32, turned himself in following the arrests of three co-defendants earlier this week.
A court complaint alleges that Awawdeh pressured an NBA athlete, known as "Player 1," to leave games prematurely to settle gambling debts. This tactic, referred to as a "special," ensured a payout for bettors who anticipated the athlete's underperformance in those games.
Awawdeh allegedly used an encrypted messaging app to convey his intentions to force the athlete to comply, urging him to "Screenshot this," as stated in the complaint. Awawdeh, who is involved in his family's corner stores in New York City, was arraigned and released on $100,000 bond with home detention and ankle monitoring. His lawyer declined to comment on the accusations.
Porter is not charged in the case or named in the complaint. However, details about Player 1 align with the findings of the NBA probe that resulted in his lifetime ban. The league determined that Porter bet on NBA games in which he did not participate and strategically withdrew from at least one game to ensure a $1 million payout for a bettor who had been tipped off.
Awawdeh and his co-defendants, including Timothy McCormack, Mahmud Mollah, and Long Phi Pham, utilized their knowledge of Player 1's intentions to place lucrative bets on his performance in games held on January 26 and March 20, as outlined in the complaint.
Porter played briefly on both dates before exiting the court, citing injury or illness. Mollah was ultimately prevented by a betting company from collecting most of his winnings, exceeding $1 million, from the March 20 game.
The defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and have yet to enter pleas. Their attorneys have generally refrained from commenting, with the exception of McCormack's lawyer, Jeffrey Chartier, who asserted that "no case is a slam dunk."
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