Jontay Porter to be sentenced on criminal charges this Wednesday

Sources around the NBA have announced that this Wednesday will finally be the day that Jontay Porter will be sentenced for participating in an illegal scheme of gambling while playing for the Raptors last season. An expert in gaming law expects the former player to serve a prison term and other punishments. 

The athlete’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for today at a federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York. Porter had plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in July, after admitting that he was part of competitive manipulation during two NBA matches.

Peter Czegledy, who serves as a partner at a Toronto law firm’s gaming group called Aird and Berlis, said that even though Jontay finally cooperated with the police, he believes he will be severely punished for his actions. “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.

BREAKING: Jontay Porter is set to be sentenced tomorrow on criminal charges for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, per @cbcsports.

Porter is expected to receive at least a 3-4 year sentencing. (h/t @esidery) pic.twitter.com/FbG0sd89JW

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) December 17, 2024

“A gambling addiction appears to have been cited as a mitigating factor by the defence, which seemingly would assist Mr. Porter,” the lawyer assured. “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.”

While the maximum prison sentence for this sort of conspiracy to commit wire fraud is set for 20 years, other prosecutors expect Porter’s sentence to fall somewhere in between 41 to 51 months. Czegledy admitted he felt saddened by this 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.

Also, Jontay has become the first NBA player in 70 years to participate in a gambling scam. “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,” the expert concluded.

Despite the fact that Porter is being convicted for actions that took place in Canada, the player has only been charged by authorities in the United States

The former Raptors player committed his competitive manipulations during NBA contests that occurred inside Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, experts surrounding the case were surprised that Jontay is only been charged by American authorities. “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,” Czegledy said. “As a result, U.S. gaming regulators and enforcement authorities were the first governmental parties to get involved.”

He then added: “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.”

Up to this point, there hasn’t been any Raptors spokesperson to comment on Porter’s upcoming sentence. Back when the league first announced their investigation, the Toronto club decided to remove the player from the organization.