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The first prison sentence was imposed in connection with the massive NBA betting scandal that rocked the sport in the fall.
Timothy McCormack was sentenced Wednesday by a federal judge in New York to two years in prison, according to ESPN.
“I have struggled with a gambling addiction for more than half my life,” McCormack said at his sentencing.
McCormack was accused of defrauding sports betting platforms by using non-public information to place highly profitable bets related to the performance of NBA players who allegedly participated in the scheme.
“He has an addiction,” federal judge LaShann DeArcy Hall said. “I don’t believe Mr. McCormack’s conduct defines him.”
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Christopher Raia, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, speaks as Director Kash Patel listens during a news conference October 23, 2025 in New York. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
McCormack participated in the scheme that allegedly involved former NBA players Terry Rozier, Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones.
Documents released by the FBI allege that the conspirators used a card shuffling machine that used hidden technology to read the cards in the game and predict which player at the table had the best hand, and transmitted that information via interstate cables to an off-site operator.
According to the documents, the operator communicated this information to a lead conspirator at the poker table, who used signals to relay the information to other conspirators at the table.
The FBI documents also allege that cheating players used other technologies, including microchip decks that could secretly read cards placed on the table, card analyzers that could also detect which cards were on the table, and invisible markings placed on cards that could only be seen using specially designed contact lenses or glasses.
FINANCE PROFESSOR WONDERS HOW NBA FIGURES ENTERED INTO ILLEGAL GAMBLING LINKS DESPITE MILLIONS OF FORTUNE
Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones were arrested in connection with scandal. (Jaime Valdez/Imagn Images; Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images; Greg Nelson/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. called it “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting was widely legalized in the United States,” and detailed the type of technology used during a press conference in October.
“They used commercial shuffling machines that had been secretly modified to read the cards in the deck, predict which player at the table had the best poker hand and transmit that information to an off-site operator,” Nocella said.
“Defendants used other cheating technologies such as poker chip deck analyzers, which are decks of poker chips that secretly read cards using a hidden camera, special contact lenses or glasses capable of reading pre-marked cards, and an x-ray table capable of reading face-down cards on the table.”
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FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a news conference announcing arrests as part of a federal investigation into illegal sports betting and gaming, October 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
Billups and Jones were allegedly used as celebrities to attract competitors for the allegedly rigged poker games.
The DOJ said that in April 2019, Billups was one of five defendants who “organized and participated in rigged poker games” in Las Vegas “using a rigged shuffling machine,” with victims losing at least $50,000. One of the defendants texted another co-conspirator to say that Billups should deliberately lose his hand to avoid suspicion of cheating.
