A pro poker player from Queens has folded his cards, admitting he conspired with disgraced former NBA player Jontay Porter to gamble on two basketball games.
Long Phi “Bruce” Pham, 38, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in Brooklyn Federal Court Wednesday, and could face more than four years in prison based on sentencing guideline estimates.
Pham and three other men were arrested in June, charged with recruiting the Toronto Raptors player — who was drowning in gambling debts — into a plot that earned him a lifetime ban from the NBA and a felony conviction.
Porter agreed to leave two games early for medical reasons, giving the gambling foursome advance notice so they could make big bets that he would underperform in those games, federal prosecutors said.
Porter pulled himself from the Raptors’ Jan. 26 game against the L.A. Clippers after playing just four minutes and scoring zero points, grabbing three rebounds and making one assist, telling team officials he had reaggravated an eye injury from a few days earlier. He then left a March 20 game after just three minutes, triggering an investigation by the NBA that led to the rare lifetime ban.
He pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in July. Based on federal sentencing guidelines, he could also face between 41 and 51 months in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 18.
Pham on Wednesday admitted he conspired to place bets with “inside information,” namely that “Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors would exit these games early.”
As part of his plea, Pham could also be on the hook for restitution in a number of other poker-related frauds he wasn’t charged with, Magistrate Judge Sanket Bulsara explained during the hearing.
Pham, of Queens, was described at a June court appearance as one of the top 1% poker players in the world.
He remains free on $750,000 bond until his April 25 sentencing before Brooklyn Federal Court Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall.
Pham declined comment as he left the courtroom, and wouldn’t answer a question about how he knew Porter.