Long Phi Pham, a 38-year-old man from Brooklyn, was busted Tuesday for allegedly teaming up with Jontay Porter in the former Toronto Raptors forward’s sports gambling scheme that resulted in a lifelong ban from the NBA.
Pham is accused of placing prop bets on statistical categories that he knew Porter would finish with the betting under. In a contest Jan. 26 against the Los Angeles Clippers, Porter allegedly told Pham that he was going to claim an injury and take himself out of the game early. Porter played four minutes and logged zero points, three rebounds and one assist before exiting. He did it again March 20 against the Sacramento Kings, playing under three minutes and grabbing two rebounds.
Pham and a group of other bettors netted over $1 million in profits, according to prosecutors.
The 38-year-old was caught Monday while trying to board a flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to Australia with $12,000 cash, two cashier checks worth $80,000 and multiple bettling slips.
Pham, accused of conspiring to defraud a sports betting company, faces up to 20 years in prison.
Porter is the brother of Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. Jontay Porter played 11 games for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2020-21 and 26 games for the Raptors last season before being banned.
TOM DIERBERGER
