NEW YORK — Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups pleaded not guilty on Monday during his appearance at a federal courthouse in Brooklyn on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy as authorities accuse the Naismith Hall of Famer of being the "face card" in a scheme that helped lure players to poker games held in Las Vegas, where sophisticated machines were used to dupe victims out of millions of dollars.
Both charges carry a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison if convicted.
Billups' attorney Marc Mukasey entered the plea on behalf of his client before U.S. District Judge Ramon Reye during the brief session.
Billups, dressed in a gray suit and light blue dress shirt, and flanked by his attorneys, arrived at the Theodore Roosevelt United States Courthouse in Brooklyn, home to the Eastern District of New York, nearly an hour before his arraignment, which was also a status conference hearing for the other 30 defendants in the case, dubbed "Operation Royal Flush," which prosecutors say involved organized crime figures, who committed violent acts to collect on debts.
When he was arrested in Portland on Oct. 23, Billups was ordered by a judge to forfeit his passport and restrict his travel to Oregon, Colorado, and New York.
