A man with ties to Philadelphia and western Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to two separate indictments on an illegal sports betting scheme and rigged poker games involving former NBA, NCAA and Chinese basketball players and coaches, according to the Department of Justice. Shane Hennen, also known a s “Sugar,” a 40-year-old Las Vegas resident who previously lived in Philadelphia and western Pennsylvania and is linked to several sports-betting schemes. Scheme to fix NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games Starting around Sept. 2022, Hennen was part of a scheme where he and others recruited players of the Chinese Basketball Association by bribing them to participate in “point-shaving” during the 2022-2023 season. Officials said that Hennen part in the scheme was to place bets and then arrange for other people to also place large bets on these fixed games. After finding success with this scheme, Hennen and others started this same process on National Collegiate Athletic Association games. Again, those involved in the scheme would recruit NCAA players with bribes to help them influence the outcomes of the games during the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 seasons. Officials explained that this bribery and point-shaving scheme included over 39 players who were part of more than 17 NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams where they fixed at least 29 games. The fraudsters gained over $3 million in “fraudulent” bets that were placed onto these games as sports books lost more than $1.1 million. NBA betting and money laundering conspiracy Shane Hennen was among six defendants who were charged in connection to two separate illegal gambling-related cases. The first indictment charged six men with wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy for allegedly using inside information from NBA players and coaches to profit from illegal betting. The defendants include Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones. Between December 2022 and March 2024, the six defendants used non-public information about upcoming NBA games to place fraudulent sports wagers for profit and then laundered the proceeds, the FBI revealed. Hennen and the co-conspirators allegedly obtained insider information from Jones, Rozier and other NBA players and coaches before distributing that information through a network of bettors. The bettors then placed wagers through online sportsbooks and retail betting outlets while falsely representing that their wagers complied with the betting companies’ rules, according to the indictment. One of the incidents Hennen was allegedly involved in took place during an NBA game on March 23, 2023, according to the indictment. Rozier – who played for the Charlotte Hornets at the time – tipped off one of his friends that he planned to leave the game early due to an injury, investigators said. Rozier allegedly gave the information to his friend, allowing him to place wagers. Hennen and other co-conspirators then used that confidential information to place and direct more than $200,000 in wagers predicting Rozier’s “under” statistics, according to the indictment. Rozier left the game after nine minutes allowing many of the bets to be paid off and generating tens of thousands of dollars in profits, investigators said. According to the indictment, on March 28, 2023, one of the defendants traveled to Philadelphia to collect the proceeds from Hennen. Another defendant also traveled to Philadelphia that day to collect the money from the scheme, investigators said. Hennen was also involved in an illegal sports betting scheme connected to two Toronto Raptors games on Jan. 26, 2024, and March 20, 2024, investigators said. During those incidents, former NBA player Jontay Porter, who played for the Raptors at the time, told other co-conspirators that he would leave the games early due to injuries, allowing them to place bets based on the insider information, according to the indictment. The information was then relayed to Hennen who informed another co-conspirator, officials said. Hennen then allegedly placed bets on Porter’s “unders” in connection with the games through a network of straw bettors. Hennen was also one of 31 defendants named in a second indictment that was previously unsealed related to a criminal scheme to rig illegal poker games at various locations in New York City, East Hampton, New York, and ten other states across the country. The other defendants once again include Damon Jones, Portland Trailblazers coach and former NBA player Chauncey Billups, and members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese organized crime families, investigators said. Hennen also has several state and federal charges in the past, including drugs and DUI offenses, as well as misdemeanors related to gambling devices, according to court records. On Oct. 14, 2026, officials said that Hennen pleaded guilty to bribery in sporting contests, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud as well as conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Hennen is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 27, 2027, and could face a maximum of 85 years in prison with three years of supervised release, a fine and restitution. ...read more read less