New York Gambler Gets Two Years in NBA Betting Probe

Posted on: January 22, 2026, 10:02h. 

Last updated on: January 22, 2026, 10:23h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.
  • Timothy McCormack is the first person sentenced in a widening NBA insider-betting conspiracy case
  • Feds say Jontay Porter game exits were tipped ahead, triggering prop-bet unders
  • Terry Rozier denies charges; Porter pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing

A 38-year-old New York man has been sentenced to two years in prison for his role in a sweeping gambling conspiracy that involved NBA players supplying insiders with confidential information.

Timothy McCormack, NBA betting scandal, Jontay Porter, Terry Rozier, prop bets
A selfie taken by the betting syndicate at an Atlantic City casino where some of the fraudulent bets were placed shows Timothy McCormack, third from left in black baseball cap. Also pictured are some of his fellow defendants: Ammar Awawdeh, left, Bruce Pham, and Mahmud Mollah, right. (Image: US Dist. Court for the Eastern Dist. of New York)

Timothy McCormack is the first defendant to be sentenced in relation to the scheme, which federal prosecutors say involved former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter, who has been banned for life from the NBA, and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, who has denied wrongdoing.

McCormack was among several individuals charged in June 2024 for their alleged involvement in a betting scheme tied to Porter. In October 2025, a much broader indictment was unsealed, naming multiple NBA figures, including Rozier and Chauncey Billups, in connection with related gambling allegations.

Gambling Problem

McCormack admitted to placing bets using insider information that Porter — and, in a separate instance cited by prosecutors, Rozier, then with the Charlotte Hornets — would leave games early. That information made certain “under” prop bets extremely likely to pay off. He pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

McCormack was “not as culpable as some of his co-conspirators” but was still a key participant in a “cold, hard fraud,” prosecutor David Berman said at sentencing.

In imposing a sentence below the four years sought by prosecutors, US District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall credited McCormack’s claim that his conduct was driven in part by a longstanding gambling addiction.

“He has an addiction,” DeArcy Hall said, according to Reuters. “I don’t believe the conduct Mr. McCormack engaged in defines him.”

The judge added, however, that the scheme had undermined the integrity of professional sports.

“There is no question this is a serious crime,” she said. “Sports matters to me as an individual, as it should to society.”

Suspicious Betting Patterns

Prosecutors said McCormack and his co-conspirators placed “under” bets on Porter in a January 26 game against the Los Angeles Clippers, and in a March 20 game against the Sacramento Kings — both Raptors losses. Court filings allege Porter told the group in advance that he would exit each game early while citing injury.

The betting syndicate stood to win $1,272,875 through DraftKings and FanDuel, though most of those funds were frozen after the operators detected suspicious wagering patterns.

Porter pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge in 2024 and is awaiting sentencing.

Separately, prosecutors allege that before a March 23, 2023, game between the Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans, Rozier told a longtime friend that he planned to leave the game early because of an injury. That information wasn’t public at the time, and was allegedly relayed to bettors before wagering lines shifted.

Rozier pleaded not guilty on Dec. 8, 2025, to federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. His case remains pending.