Former NBA player Damon Jones will be the first ex-athlete to plead guilty to federal charges related to a Mafia-linked gambling scandal.

Jones, 49, was charged in October 2025 in two federal indictments along with dozens of other defendants, including NBA players and coaches and made members of La Cosa Nostra crime families. In one case, federal prosecutors allege a conspiracy in which NBA insiders fed information about injuries, playing time and other factors to bettors who then used that information to cash in.

The second case involves famous athletes being used as lures to attract gamblers to backroom poker games controlled by the mob. Those games turned out to be rigged, using methods that included x-ray tables and special glasses that could see through the cards and doctored shuffling machines.

Jones had entered not-guilty pleas to the charges against him in both cases. But on Thursday, docket records indicate that he intends to change his plea, although it's not clear on which specific charges.

“Defendant Jones's change of plea is respectfully REFERRED to Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Marutollo. Ordered by Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall on 4/16/2026,” read the docket entry. A second entry follows up by scheduling an in-person hearing in New York on April 28. In the meantime, prosecutors were ordered to send a so-called Pimentel letter, a document outlining sentencing guidelines that is used to help make sure defendants have complete information before entering a plea.

Among the other NBA stars indicted in the gambling cases are Miami Heat player Terry Rozier  and Chauncey Billups, the Portland Trail Blazers' head coach.