Posted on: December 18, 2024, 01:40h.
Last updated on: December 18, 2024, 02:10h.
The sentencing for disgraced former NBA player Jontay Porter has been pushed back into 2025.
The former Toronto Raptor was supposed to have been sentenced Wednesday in a Brooklyn courthouse after pleading guilty in July to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Media reports today have the sentencing pushed to May 20.
Manipulated Games
Porter pleaded guilty after admitting he manipulated two NBA games as a member of the Raptors for gambling purposes. An investigation showed that prop bets involving Porter in Raptors games on January 26 and March 20 of this year ended up providing bettors with large paydays in what were thought to be unusual circumstances.
Porter removed himself from both of those games due to illness or injury, scoring no points, and playing less than five minutes in each. Bettors who had the under in those categories won their bets.
Banned for Life
In April the NBA banned Porter for life, the first time that has happened since legal sports gambling in the US became widespread.
An expert in gaming law at a Toronto law firm told the Canadian Press that he expects a harsh prison sentence for Porter as well as a fine in despite Porter cooperating with US authorities.
Prison Sentence Likely
“This is a high-profile case, involving premeditated and repeat misconduct over a period of time by a public individual who should be acting as a role model, so that will not be in his favour,” Peter Czegledy told Canadian Press. “A gambling addiction appears to have been cited as a mitigating factor by the defense, which seemingly would assist Mr. Porter. I would expect that the court will be very careful in its deliberations — and that the sentence will combine both a prison term and significant financial restitution.”
