The recent indictment revealing a high-stakes gambling ring allegedly involving NBA players and Mafia families might just be the tip of the iceberg, claims a former underboss.

Federal authorities have alleged that NBA star Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups were used as prominent figures to lure unsuspecting participants into these manipulated games.

Salvatore ‘Sammy the Bull’ Gravano shared with the Daily Mail that this federal crackdown could pose significant problems for the ‘mafia muscle’ accused of orchestrating poker games nationwide and using insider tips to manipulate sports betting outcomes.

“Clearly, those who lost money and had it weren’t troubled,” Gravano remarked.

“It’s the ones who lost but couldn’t afford it. They refuse to settle because they feel duped. That’s when muscle comes into play. They pursue them, issue threats, and might even resort to violence, like a beating or something similar.”

“The indictment I’ve seen is mainly about gambling and minor issues … but if they got aggressive with people, it complicates matters. There could be another indictment soon involving individuals we haven’t even heard of yet.”

More than 30 defendants have been charged in two separate cases related to alleged schemes involving illegal sports betting and rigged poker games backed by mafia families in La Cosa Nostra, including the Gambino, Bonanno, Genovese and Lucchese crime families.

Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was one of the players named in the indictment. He earned over $133 million in his 10-year NBA career and is under a $26.6 million contract with the Heat

NBA Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups was pictured leaving Portland federal court after he was arrested as part of an FBI investigation

Billups was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024. His induction followed a 17-season career where he won an NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004 and was named NBA Finals MVP. 

The arrests sent shockwaves in the NBA and amongst four of the five families within La Cosa Nostra, an Italian phrase meaning ‘our thing’ that’s often used to refer to the Sicilian Mafia in the US.

‘For years, these individuals allegedly hosted illegal poker games where they used sophisticated technology and enlisted current and former NBA players to cheat people out of millions of dollars,’ stated NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch at a press conference on Thursday. 

‘This complex scheme was so far-reaching that it included members from four of the organized crime families, and when people refused to pay because they were cheated, these defendants did what organized crime has always done: they used threats, intimidation, and violence.’ 

Victims were defrauded out of at least $7 million between 2019 and 2025, according to the indictments. One victim alone lost $1.8 million.

Billups is charged with taking part in allegedly rigging underground poker games, while Rozier is accused of participating in an illegal sports betting scheme using private insider NBA information.

Gravano, who rose to the position of underboss in the Gambino crime family in New York City in the late 1980s, left the mob after he agreed to turn in state’s evidence against mob boss John ‘The Dapper Don’ Gotti in 1991. 

Gravano, who has since left the mafia life and is now a successful YouTuber and businessman, told the Daily Mail he was shocked when he saw some familiar names in the indictment released on Thursday. 

Angelo Ruggiero Jr., who is the son of the late Gambino captain Angelo ‘Quack Quack’ Ruggiero Sr., was one of those indicted in the gambling rigging case. 

Sammy The Bull, pictured above, rose to the position of underboss in the Gambino family in the late 1980s, but left the mob after he agreed to turn in state’s evidence against mob boss John ‘The Dapper Don’ Gotti

Gravano (left) was known as Gotti’s right-hand man in the Gambino family

The older Ruggiero was close friends with Gotti and helped plan the murder of Gambino leader Paul Castellano in 1985. 

Gotti later promoted Ruggiero once he became the boss of the Gambino family. The older Ruggiero, who has since passed, also acted as a liaison when Gotti was charged with murder in 1992. 

Lee Fama, another Gambino wise guy who was indicted, is known for his big winnings at poker games. 

Fama raked in more than $22,000 at poker tournaments at the Borgata in Atlantic City and $666 at the Rio hotel in Las Vegas in 2012 as Drug Enforcement Administration agents busted him for allegedly buying and selling several pounds of marijuana. 

In August 2011, Fama was caught on wiretaps buying two pounds of marijuana from a cooperating witness, according to a DEA affidavit. 

Gravano said Fama and Ruggiero are small-time players in the Gambino family.

‘I knew Lee a little bit … but they were good guys,’ Gravano said. ‘Tough guys, but good guys. And this isn’t, like, a horrible crime for the mafia. He’s running a game, they were doing a little cheating, whatever. But they were good guys, as far as I know.’ 

Ernest ‘Ernie’ Aiello is one of nine reputed members of the Bonanno crime family who is also facing charges in the rigged poker game scheme.

The Bonanno wise guy faced loansharking, gambling and drug dealing charges in 2013, but walked free after a mistrial in May 2017.

Angelo ‘Quack Quack’ Ruggiero Sr., was close friends with Gotti and helped plan the murder of Gambino leader Paul Castellano in 1985. His son Angelo Jr. was indicted this week in connection to his alleged involvement in the rigged NBA gambling scheme

Lee Fama, one of the defendants named in the indictment, is known for participating in poker tournaments all over the country. He is pictured here at the Borgata Winter Poker Open in 2012

Ernest Aiello pictured in July 2013 on an unrelated case. He is one of nine reputed members of the Bonanno crime family who were indicted on Thursday 

Gravano said one of the surprising details that came out of the FBI probe is how four out of the five families of La Cosa Nostra allegedly were working together in the multimillion dollar operation. 

‘That’s unusual, but the mafia changed,’ Gravano told the Daily Mail. ‘Usually when a mafia family controls something, they kept it to themselves, the different families. This was a little unusual because it seems like all the families were involved.’ 

He continued: ‘Listen, the Mafia created Vegas. They know how to treat people in a game. There’re good-looking girls there, they’re giving you massages, they’re giving you food, drinks. They make it beautiful. They got their own security, so nobody’s gonna come in and rob the game. 

‘They probably brought each other in since they know each other. Whatever money they made, maybe they cut it up. I don’t know what they did or how they did it, but that would be normal.’ 

Gravano said in an operation like this, ‘something would be kicked up’ to the mob bosses, who might get a cut of the winnings. 

What fascinated the former mafioso the most, however, was the technology used by the defendants to allegedly rig the card games.

Chauncey Billups seen in a 2019 photo playing a game of poker in 2019 with co-defendants Sophia Wei (center) and Saul Becher (behind Wei)

Federal officials said the co-conspirators allegedly used X-ray tables to rig the poker games

Card shufflers were allegedly used to read cards during the card games

Joseph Nocella Jr., US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, outlined how associates of the infamous Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese and Luchese crime families used X-ray tables and high-tech contact lenses to read cards.

The defendants allegedly used shelf shuffling machines that were secretly altered to read the cards in the deck and predict which player at the table had the best poker hand, Nocella Jr. said. That information would then be relayed to an off-site operator, who sent the information via cellphone back to a co-conspirator at the table.

They also allegedly used other technologies, including poker chip tray analyzers and a table with X-ray capabilities that could read cards face down on the table. 

Gravano was shocked and impressed when he heard about the various technologies allegedly used in the scheme. 

‘Oh, we didn’t even have the phones in my time, so there was nothing you had to cheat with except the old-fashioned way,’ the former mobster told the Daily Mail. ‘But that fascinated me. I mean, it’s fascinating to see glasses, contact lenses, whatever, and they could see the card that’s passed out. So how could you ever beat them?’

But what surprised ‘The Bull’ the most was how high-profile NBA players allegedly participated in the multimillion-dollar scheme.

‘You’re already in the Hall of Fame, you’ve made $100 million,’ Gravano said of Billups. ‘If that’s not greed, I don’t know what is.’