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On Wednesday, Jontay Porter joined the unenviable ranks of professional athletes who’ve received a lifetime ban over a betting scandal, but he could be facing even more trouble moving forward based on information the NBA has shared with federal prosecutors.
At the end of March, the NBA announced it had launched an investigation into Jontay Porter, who spent the majority of the season coming off of the bench for the Toronto Raptors before he was sidelined by the team after the league revealed it had reason to believe he’d been involved in some shady behavior linked to sports betting.
After a weeks-long investigation, Porter received treatment previously reserved for Pete Rose and members of the Chicago Black Sox when the NBA banned him for life after determining the big man had provided at least one bettor with inside information concerning an injury that led to him exiting a contest early and personally placed more than a dozen wagers on NBA games (including a parlay where he bet on the Raptors to lose).
Adam Silver made it clear that particular punishment was on the table before it was officially handed out, and it’s easy to understand why he decided to bring down the hammer on a player who seriously undermined the integrity of a league that has embraced legal sports betting with open arms after previously dealing with another scandal courtesy of Tim Donaghy.
That disgraced referee ultimately served 11 months in prison in the wake of the explosive saga that unfolded in 2007, and it seems like there’s a chance Porter could also end up behind bars when everything is said and done based on how the NBA approached his situation.
On Thursday, Sportico took a closer look at the ramifications of the Porter situation in an article featuring some input from Charles McIntyre, who currently serves as a lottery official in New Hampshire but previously spent five years working as a district attorney in Massachusetts with a focus on drugs, organized crime, and gambling.
McIntyre noted the NBA said it has shared the results of its investigation with federal prosecutors and hinted “We could be at the tip of the iceberg of a larger controversy,” as it seems like there’s a chance the Department of Justice could be interested in pursuing a case against Porter stemming from fraud and conspiracy charges.
His career may have come to an end, but it sounds like this is far from over.