New York
Lawyer in NBA betting case won’t say whether his client knows banned player
NEW YORK (AP) — A defense lawyer declined to comment Wednesday on the case against a New York man charged in a sports betting scandal that cost former NBA player Jontay Porter his career.
The attorney, Michael Soshnick, also wouldn’t say whether his client, Long Phi Pham, knows the former Toronto Raptors forward who was banned from the NBA in April. A league investigation found that he tipped off bettors about his health and then claimed illness to exit at least one game and make some wagers pay out. Porter also placed his own bets on NBA games in which he didn’t play, the league said.
Pham and three co-defendants, whose names are redacted in a Brooklyn federal court complaint, are charged with conspiring to defraud a sports betting company.
The complaint says they placed wagers based on information from an NBA athlete — identified in the complaint only as “Player 1” — about his plans to claim illness or injury to limit his participation in two games. The alleged conspirators wagered that the player would fall short of expectations for his performance, and they won when he exited the games after only a few minutes, according to the complaint.
The game dates and other details match those cited in the NBA’s investigation into Porter, and the complaint quotes from an NBA press release about it.
Porter didn’t comment on the NBA’s findings when they were released. Current contact information could not immediately be found for Porter or any agent or other representative he may have. Prosecutors have declined to say whether they are investigating him.
Pham, who also uses the first name Bruce, is a professional poker player, according to his attorney. Authorities said Pham was arrested Monday as the 38-year-old Brooklyn resident was getting on a flight to Australia with about $12,000 in cash.
His lawyer said it was a planned trip to a poker tournament, but prosecutors portrayed it as an attempt to flee the U.S. after Pham learned of their investigation days before.
“We’ll see if they pick me up at the airport when I try to leave the country,” he texted an acquaintance, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Weintraub. He argued Wednesday against granting Pham any bail.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak agreed to release him to home detention on $750,000 bond, with an ankle monitor, four relatives and a friend signing the bond and two putting up homes, among other conditions.
But, Pollak mused, “I’m sitting here today with very serious doubts about whether I’m making a big mistake.”
Pham remains in custody until at least Thursday while paperwork and other procedural steps are finalized.
“My client will abide by each and every condition of his release,” Soshnick said outside court.
New York
Prosecutors ask judge to deny Santos’ bid to have some fraud charges dropped
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to reject former U.S. Rep. George Santos ‘ bid to have some of the fraud charges against him dropped as his trial approaches.
The New York Republican, who last year became only the sixth lawmaker in history to be expelled from the U.S. House of Representatives, has requested that a judge dismiss three of the 23 charges against him.
Santos faces a slew of criminal charges, including allegations that he defrauded campaign donors, lied to Congress about his wealth, received unemployment benefits while employed, and used campaign contributions to pay for personal expenses like designer clothing. He pleaded not guilty to a revised indictment in October.
But in court filings last month, Santos’ lawyers argued that the aggravated identity theft charges should be dropped because he has not been accused of obtaining credit card information from donors unlawfully, but simply for overcharging them.
“All of the credit cards were voluntarily sent to Santos’ campaign and his campaign was authorized to charge the cards for a specified amount,” defense lawyers wrote in their motion to dismiss the charges.
Prosecutors, in legal filings on Friday, dismissed Santos’ request as “meritless.”
They said they’ll show at trial how he used the identities of his donors to fraudulently and deceptively evade federal campaign finance laws.
“Santos did not merely ‘use’ credit card information that he properly possessed; he abused it, with specific intent to defraud, to increase the amount of money he had appeared to raise as a candidate for the House,” prosecutors argued in their lengthy filing. “Nor did he merely ‘use’ names in entering fraudulent charges on his victims’ credit cards; he misused them deceitfully, with specific intent to mask, conceal, and prolong his unlawful activities.”
Lawyers for Santos didn’t respond to an email seeking comment Monday. He is slated to go on trial in September and isn’t due back in federal court on Long Island until August.
In April, he dropped his longshot bid to return to Congress as an independent in the 1st Congressional District on Long Island.
Tennessee
Police checking if suspect charged with killing homeless man targeted others
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis police are investigating whether a suspect charged with killing a homeless man has targeted other homeless people in the city, a spokesperson said.
Kurt Loucks, 41, was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Shaun Rhea.
Loucks attacked Rhea early Friday morning in downtown Memphis, police said in an affidavit. A security guard at a nearby hotel said he saw Loucks use pepper spray against Rhea while Loucks was armed with a knife, police said.
Loucks went into his apartment but returned and shot at Rhea with a rifle, according to police, citing the security guard’s statement. Rhea, who was unarmed, died at a hospital, police said.
Loucks is being held without bond. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for July 9.
Blake Ballin, Loucks’ lawyer, said he was looking into whether Loucks was acting in self-defense during two confrontations with Rhea. Loucks was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army because he was disabled due to post-traumatic stress disorder, Ballin said.
The security guard told police that there had been several incidents where Loucks had attacked homeless people, the police affidavit said. Police are investigating whether Loucks has targeted homeless people in the past, Memphis police spokesman Christopher Williams said in an email.
Lawyer in NBA betting case won’t say whether his client knows banned player
NEW YORK (AP) — A defense lawyer declined to comment Wednesday on the case against a New York man charged in a sports betting scandal that cost former NBA player Jontay Porter his career.
The attorney, Michael Soshnick, also wouldn’t say whether his client, Long Phi Pham, knows the former Toronto Raptors forward who was banned from the NBA in April. A league investigation found that he tipped off bettors about his health and then claimed illness to exit at least one game and make some wagers pay out. Porter also placed his own bets on NBA games in which he didn’t play, the league said.
Pham and three co-defendants, whose names are redacted in a Brooklyn federal court complaint, are charged with conspiring to defraud a sports betting company.
The complaint says they placed wagers based on information from an NBA athlete — identified in the complaint only as “Player 1” — about his plans to claim illness or injury to limit his participation in two games. The alleged conspirators wagered that the player would fall short of expectations for his performance, and they won when he exited the games after only a few minutes, according to the complaint.
The game dates and other details match those cited in the NBA’s investigation into Porter, and the complaint quotes from an NBA press release about it.
Porter didn’t comment on the NBA’s findings when they were released. Current contact information could not immediately be found for Porter or any agent or other representative he may have. Prosecutors have declined to say whether they are investigating him.
Pham, who also uses the first name Bruce, is a professional poker player, according to his attorney. Authorities said Pham was arrested Monday as the 38-year-old Brooklyn resident was getting on a flight to Australia with about $12,000 in cash.
His lawyer said it was a planned trip to a poker tournament, but prosecutors portrayed it as an attempt to flee the U.S. after Pham learned of their investigation days before.
“We’ll see if they pick me up at the airport when I try to leave the country,” he texted an acquaintance, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Weintraub. He argued Wednesday against granting Pham any bail.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak agreed to release him to home detention on $750,000 bond, with an ankle monitor, four relatives and a friend signing the bond and two putting up homes, among other conditions.
But, Pollak mused, “I’m sitting here today with very serious doubts about whether I’m making a big mistake.”
Pham remains in custody until at least Thursday while paperwork and other procedural steps are finalized.
“My client will abide by each and every condition of his release,” Soshnick said outside court.
New York
Prosecutors ask judge to deny Santos’ bid to have some fraud charges dropped
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to reject former U.S. Rep. George Santos ‘ bid to have some of the fraud charges against him dropped as his trial approaches.
The New York Republican, who last year became only the sixth lawmaker in history to be expelled from the U.S. House of Representatives, has requested that a judge dismiss three of the 23 charges against him.
Santos faces a slew of criminal charges, including allegations that he defrauded campaign donors, lied to Congress about his wealth, received unemployment benefits while employed, and used campaign contributions to pay for personal expenses like designer clothing. He pleaded not guilty to a revised indictment in October.
But in court filings last month, Santos’ lawyers argued that the aggravated identity theft charges should be dropped because he has not been accused of obtaining credit card information from donors unlawfully, but simply for overcharging them.
“All of the credit cards were voluntarily sent to Santos’ campaign and his campaign was authorized to charge the cards for a specified amount,” defense lawyers wrote in their motion to dismiss the charges.
Prosecutors, in legal filings on Friday, dismissed Santos’ request as “meritless.”
They said they’ll show at trial how he used the identities of his donors to fraudulently and deceptively evade federal campaign finance laws.
“Santos did not merely ‘use’ credit card information that he properly possessed; he abused it, with specific intent to defraud, to increase the amount of money he had appeared to raise as a candidate for the House,” prosecutors argued in their lengthy filing. “Nor did he merely ‘use’ names in entering fraudulent charges on his victims’ credit cards; he misused them deceitfully, with specific intent to mask, conceal, and prolong his unlawful activities.”
Lawyers for Santos didn’t respond to an email seeking comment Monday. He is slated to go on trial in September and isn’t due back in federal court on Long Island until August.
In April, he dropped his longshot bid to return to Congress as an independent in the 1st Congressional District on Long Island.
Tennessee
Police checking if suspect charged with killing homeless man targeted others
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis police are investigating whether a suspect charged with killing a homeless man has targeted other homeless people in the city, a spokesperson said.
Kurt Loucks, 41, was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Shaun Rhea.
Loucks attacked Rhea early Friday morning in downtown Memphis, police said in an affidavit. A security guard at a nearby hotel said he saw Loucks use pepper spray against Rhea while Loucks was armed with a knife, police said.
Loucks went into his apartment but returned and shot at Rhea with a rifle, according to police, citing the security guard’s statement. Rhea, who was unarmed, died at a hospital, police said.
Loucks is being held without bond. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for July 9.
Blake Ballin, Loucks’ lawyer, said he was looking into whether Loucks was acting in self-defense during two confrontations with Rhea. Loucks was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army because he was disabled due to post-traumatic stress disorder, Ballin said.
The security guard told police that there had been several incidents where Loucks had attacked homeless people, the police affidavit said. Police are investigating whether Loucks has targeted homeless people in the past, Memphis police spokesman Christopher Williams said in an email.
