TORONTO – An authority in gaming law expects former Toronto Raptors centre Jontay Porter might be sentenced to a minimum of a jail term and face other punishments.
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 previous NBA player will still be severely punished.
“This can be a high-profile case, involving premeditated and repeat misconduct over a time period by a public individual who ought to be acting as a job model, in order that is not going to be in his favour,” said Czegledy, who doesn’t practice law within the U.S. “A gambling addiction appears to have been cited as a mitigating factor by the defence, which seemingly would assist Mr. Porter.
“I’d expect that the court might be very careful in its deliberations — and that the sentence will mix each a jail 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 mustn’t be considered a mitigating factor warranting a lesser sentence.
Porter was injured to begin 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 able to control 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 each of them.
By pulling out of the games Porter insured that bettors who took the under on proposition bets on his performance would win their wagers.
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The utmost prison sentence for conspiracy to commit wire fraud is 20 years, but prosecutors have estimated Porter’s sentence to fall in a variety from 41 to 51 months.
Czegledy said he was saddened by the case.
“This can be a young man who has managed to attain an incredibly difficult task — to play professionally with the very best on this planet in his chosen sport. Nevertheless, that’s now an empty achievement,” said Czegledy. “Other than the criminal proceedings, the NBA has banned him for all times, probably the most severe penalty possible, and one meted out very rarely.
“He’s the primary lively 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.”
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 within the province, said that an Ontario Provincial Police bureau embedded inside that agency was investigating the Porter case. On the time of the NBA’s initial investigation into Porter, an AGCO spokesman 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 American authorities.
“Most, if not all, of the related betting took place within 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 along with prompting their very own investigations,” he said. “Consequently, U.S. gaming regulators and enforcement authorities were the primary governmental parties to get entangled.
“The NBA also would have been contacted briefly order, and it is also U.S.-based. Mr. Porter’s 4 identified co-conspirators, all of whom have also been charged, are all U.S. residents, 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 just isn’t robust enough to stop competitive manipulation.
Czegledy said that gaming regulations in Canada are already very broad and detailed, covering every facet of the industry. That features operators, suppliers, managers, employees and others. Nevertheless, the unregulated gambling market — the illegal market — is the domain of justice and enforcement authorities, who need to largely depend on Part VII of the Criminal Code of Canada, a piece he believes is outdated.
“We are actually counting on provisions and principles from the horse-and-buggy age,” said Czegledy. “Most individuals aware of those provisions, no matter their political or ideological bent, recognize that a modernized approach is each vital and invaluable — but as yet no federal government has been prepared to commit to that undertaking in anything aside from a piecemeal manner.
“Naturally, there are other areas of laws and regulation that might be improved — but in my view there is no such thing as a area that demands it more or could be as helpful to deal with than the gambling provisions of the Criminal Code.”
Czegledy said he would also prefer to see greater harmonization between the provinces on gambling regulations
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2024.
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© 2024 The Canadian Press
