Ex-Raptor Jontay Porter to be sentenced on criminal charges

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An expert in gaming law expects former Toronto Raptors centre Jontay Porter will be sentenced to at least a prison term and face other punishments.

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Porter’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Wednesday at a federal courthouse in Brooklyn, N.Y. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on July 10 after admitting to competitive manipulation in two NBA games.

Peter Czegledy, a partner at Aird and Berlis who chairs the Toronto law firm’s gaming group, said that although Porter has apparently co-operated with U.S. authorities, he expects the former NBA player will still be severely punished.

“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,” said Czegledy, who does not practise law in the U.S. “A gambling addiction appears to have been cited as a mitigating factor by the defence, which seemingly would assist Mr. Porter.

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“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.”

Czegledy noted that the 25-year-old Porter’s gambling addiction would have limited value to his defence if he was tried in Canada. A 1996 Court of Appeal decision explicitly decided that an accused’s addiction or obsession with gambling should not be considered a mitigating factor warranting a lesser sentence.

Porter was injured to start the 2023-24 NBA season, but saw more playing time last January when Raptors starting centre Jakob Poeltl was out, recovering from an injured ankle.

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That increased time on the court put Porter in a position to manipulate the betting market, feigning injury or illness to remove himself from games on Jan. 26 and March 20. He played fewer than five minutes and scored no points in both of them.

By pulling out of the games Porter ensured that bettors who took the under on proposition bets on his performance would win their wagers.

The maximum prison sentence for conspiracy to commit wire fraud is 20 years, but prosecutors have estimated Porter’s sentence to fall in a range from 41 to 51 months.

Czegledy said he was saddened by the case.

“This is a young man who has managed to achieve an incredibly difficult task — to play professionally with the best in the world in his chosen sport. However, that is now an empty achievement,” said Czegledy. “Apart from the criminal proceedings, the NBA has banned him for life, the most severe penalty possible, and one meted out very rarely.

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“He is the first active player or coach to be expelled from the NBA for gambling since Jack Molinas in 1954. Now he likely will face prison time as well.”

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A spokesperson for the Toronto Raptors offered no comment on Porter’s upcoming sentencing.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, which oversees sports betting in the province, said that an Ontario Provincial Police bureau embedded within that agency was investigating the Porter case. At the time of the NBA’s initial investigation into Porter, an AGCO spokesperson cited section 209 of the Criminal Code of Canada, which prohibits “cheating while playing a game or betting with intent to defraud someone.”

Although Porter’s competitive manipulations happened in games held at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, Czegledy said he wasn’t surprised Porter has only been charged by U.S. authorities.

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“Most, if not all, of the related betting took place in the U.S. through two U.S. sportsbooks. Those businesses, consistent with their internal security processes, flagged the irregular activity promptly and reported it to U.S. authorities for investigation in addition to prompting their own investigations,” he said. “As a result, U.S. gaming regulators and enforcement authorities were the first governmental parties to get involved.

“The NBA also would have been contacted in short order, and it also is U.S. based. Mr. Porter’s four identified co-conspirators, all of whom have also been charged, are all U.S. citizens, as is Mr. Porter.”

The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, the country’s sports integrity body, and other experts on competition manipulation disagree with AGCO and say that section 209 is not robust enough to prevent competitive manipulation.

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Czegledy said that gaming regulations in Canada are already very broad and detailed, covering every facet of the industry. That includes operators, suppliers, managers, employees and others. However, the unregulated gambling market — the illegal market — is the domain of justice and enforcement authorities, who have to largely rely on part VII of the Criminal Code of Canada, a section he believes is outdated.

“We are literally relying on provisions and principles from the horse-and-buggy age,” said Czegledy. “Most people familiar with those provisions, regardless of their political or ideological bent, recognize that a modernized approach is both necessary and invaluable — but as yet no federal government has been prepared to commit to that undertaking in anything other than a piecemeal manner.

“Naturally, there are other areas of legislation and regulation that could be improved — but in my opinion there is no area that demands it more or would be as beneficial to address than the gambling provisions of the Criminal Code.”

Czegledy said he would also like to see greater harmonization between the provinces on gambling regulations.

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