A federal indictment unsealed Thursday make clear allegations of a widespread dishonest ring in underground poker video games that utilized superior expertise, mob ties and former NBA gamers to allegedly cheat gamers out of over $7 million over a number of years.
Greater than two dozen defendants are named within the indictment, most notably former professional basketball gamers Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones. The federal case dubbed “Operation Royal Flush” entails an array of characters, from crime members of the family who used threats to make sure money owed had been paid to poker grinders who had been allegedly a part of the dishonest groups.
Here is a take a look at the “Operation Royal Flush” defendants and the position they every play within the federal poker case.
FBI Busts Excessive-Tech Poker Dishonest Scheme Linking NBA Coaches and NY Mafia
NBA Stars
The indictment alleged that NBA coaches Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones had been “Face Playing cards” within the video games who had been introduced in as “well-known former skilled athletes” to “appeal to the Victims” within the dishonest scheme.
Billups, who was inducted into the Basketball Corridor of Fame final 12 months, is the present head coach of the Portland Path Blazers after a 17-year NBA profession. Jones, in the meantime, loved an 11-year NBA run earlier than becoming a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers as an assistant coach from 2016-2018.
PokerNews realized that Kevin Garnett additionally participated in a number of the video games, however the former NBA famous person was not indicted and has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Garnett was the 2003-2004 NBA Most Precious Participant with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the workforce that drafted him out of highschool in 1995.
Present Miami Warmth guard Terry Rozier was charged in a separate indictment associated to a sports activities playing scheme, although he is not accused of being concerned within the poker scheme.
Recreation Organizers
A number of defendants are alleged to have “organized and took part in Rigged Video games, in addition to ‘sq.’ unlawful poker video games at varied places in New York Metropolis,” together with at Washington Place and Lexington Avenue.
These accused of organizing video games in New York Metropolis embrace Ammar Awawdeh, Saul Becher, John Gallo, Zhen Hu, and Seth Trustman.
Dishonest Groups
The indictment described “Dishonest Groups” the place defendants used shuffling machines that had been “secretly altered to make use of hid expertise to learn the playing cards within the deck, predict which participant on the desk had the very best poker hand, and relay that info by way of interstate wires to an off-site operator.”
The operator then communicated the data to a member of the Dishonest Workforce, known as the “Quarterback” or “Driver,” who supplied alerts to different members of the Dishonest Workforce within the video games.
Members of the Dishonest Groups embrace Nelson “Spanish G” Alvarez, Louis “Lous Ap” Apicella, Ammar “Flapper Poker” Awawdeh, Eric “Spook” Earnest, John Gallo, Marco Garzon, Jamie Gilet, Tony Goodson, Kenny Han, Shane “Sugar” Hennen, Horatio Hu, John “John South” Mazzola, Nicholas Minucci, Michael Renzulli, Seth Trustman, and Sophia Wei.
A number of members of the alleged Dishonest Groups seem like notable within the poker group.
Kenny Han is a event grinder from New York with $115,456 in Hendon Mob earnings. In October 2022, he completed runner-up for a World Sequence of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in a $365 on-line Monster Stack occasion.
One other New Yorker, Lee Fama, has $86,633 in dwell event earnings and most not too long ago cashed on the July 2023 Wynn Summer season Basic in Las Vegas.
In the meantime, sports activities content material creator Shane Hennen of Pennsylvania, who high-stake poker participant Wesley Fei accused of dishonest in 2023, has $11,759 in Hendon Mob earnings.
Disclaimer: PokerNews has not verified that the poker gamers listed on The Hendon Mob are the identical poker gamers named within the indictment. Nevertheless, their names and states of residence match.
Dishonest Tech Suppliers
A number of defendants allegedly “provided different defendants and their co-conspirators within the Scheme with dishonest expertise, which included hacked shufflers, poker chip tray analyzers that secretly learn playing cards, particular contact lenses and glasses to learn premarked playing cards, and x-ray tables that would learn playing cards facedown.
These defendants are Tony Goodson of Georgia, Curtis “Curt” Meeks of Texas, Shane “Sugar” Hennen of Pennsylvania, and Robert “Black Rob” Stroud of Kentucky.
Crime Household Members
In keeping with the indictment, members of the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime households allegedly “used threats and intimidation to guarantee fee of money owed” from the video games in New York Metropolis. In alternate, members of those crime households allegedly “acquired parts of the proceeds.”
Ernest Aiello, Thomas Gelardo, and Julius Ziliani are alleged to have acquired proceeds on behalf of the Bonanno crime household, whereas John Gallo, Lee Fama, Joseph Lanni, and Angelo Ruggiero Jr. are mentioned to have acquired proceeds for the Gambino crime household.
Moreover, “sure members and associates of the Gambino Crime Household” participated within the Dishonest Groups, together with Ammar Awawdeh, Louis Apicella, John Gallo and Nicholas Minucci.
Lexington Avenue recreation organizer and dishonest workforce member Seth Trustman is alleged to be an affiliate of the Lucchese crime household of La Cosa Nostra.
Different Members
Different alleged operatives held miscellaneous roles. For instance, New Jersey’s Osman “Albanian Bruce” Hoti is alleged to have supplied safety element for the Lexington Avenue recreation.
In the meantime, Anthony “Doc” Shnayderman is accused of getting “laundered felony proceeds from the Rigged Poker Scheme.”
The case is being tried within the U.S. District Court docket Japanese District of New York. A full record of defendants within the case is accessible within the desk under.
Operation Royal Flush Defendants
*Photos courtesy WikiMedia Commons
Connor Richards
Senior Editor U.S.
