Defendant Pleads Guilty For Role in Jontay Porter Sports Betting Scandal

• Ammar Awawdeh today pled guilty for his role in the 2024 Jontay Porter sports betting scandal
• Awawdeh pled guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and conspiring to influence sporting contests
• Former Toronto Raptors backup center Porter pled guilty for his role in the scandal two years ago

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Ammar Awawdeh, 34, this week pled guilty in U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York for wire fraud conspiracy and conspiring to influence sports contests for his role in a 2024 NBA sports betting scandal.

Awawdeh was one of five defendants charged for their roles in a sports betting scandal centered around former Toronto Raptors backup forward/center Jontay Porter. Awawdeh and three other defendants used insider knowledge of Porter taking himself out of games early due to fake injuries so they could place under bets for on his player prop totals.

The defendants encouraged Porter to leave games early so he could clear gambling debts and ensure certain under prop bets on his performance would hit. The individuals netted more than $1 million in wagers placed on Porter’s performance, according to court documents.

Awawdeh Unnamed For Months

Long Phi Pham, also know as “Bruce,” Timothy McCormack of New York City and Mahmud Mollah of Langhorne, PA, were named as defendants in a federal wire fraud case by the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of New York.

Porter, of course, was the first to be named in the case. A fifth co-defendant, who eventually came to light as Awawdeh, remained unnamed for months.

The co-conspirators placed “under prop” bets on Porter’s performance in two NBA games, knowing in advance he would withdraw from those games for health reasons. Porter reportedly informed Pham he would be leaving two Raptors games on Jan. 26 and March 20 early, while McCormack and Mollah placed the bets on his performance.

Porter was allegedly nervous about the scheme, telling Pham and co-conspirators in a group chat on April 4, 2024, that they “might just get hit w a rico,” referring to a racketeering charge, and asked if the group chat participants had “delete[d] all the stuff” from their personal cell phones.

Court documents revealed texts from Porter to the conspirators that if he didn’t participate in the “special” (code for leaving games early) he would face physical harm.

“If I don’t do a special with your terms. Then it’s up. And u hate me and if I don’t get u 8k by Friday you’re coming to Toronto to beat me up,” Porter texted to one of the defendants in early 2024.

Porter Pled Guilty in 2024

Porter pled guilty in July 2024 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in the scandal. His sentencing has been delayed for nearly two years and is currently scheduled to be held this December. Porter faces between three-and-a-half to four years in prison.

News of Porter’s role in the sports betting scandal broke in April 2024 when the NBA announced its decision to ban him from the league. An NBA investigation found the backup forward/center provided a sports bettor with confidential information, limited his participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and bet on several NBA games.

Porter was found to have bet against the Raptors in a parlay while he traveled, but did not play, with the team earlier this year.

Most concerning, however, was news that broke in June 2024 that Porter faked at least two injuries so he could leave games early. He informed the four defendants that he owed large gambling debts to about his plan so they could place several large “under” bets on his performance.

According to the findings of the NBA investigation, Porter placed at least 13 bets on NBA games using an associate’s online sports betting account. The bets ranged from $15 to $22,000, with Porter betting a total of $54,094 on the NBA. The total payout from the bets was $76,059, netting Porter $21,965.

However, it was revealed that Porter had amassed large gambling debts and was leaving games early to help clear those dues, according to the federal government.