Jontay Porter asks judge for permission to play in Greece

Jontay Porter, the former Toronto Raptors center who was banned by the NBA for gambling on his team’s games and pled to guilty to one federal charge connected to that, is trying to play professional basketball again.

A lawyer for Porter is asking the federal judge overseeing his case to allow Porter to play professionally this upcoming season in Greece for Promitheas B.C. in the country’s top league. Porter’s lawyer made the request in a letter to Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall on Tuesday. The letter says that the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which charged Porter last month, and the United States Pretrial Services Officer are not opposed to Porter’s request.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York declined to comment. Jensen, the lawyer for Porter, declined to comment.

Porter pled guilty last week in Brooklyn federal court to a conspiracy to commit wire fraud. His case is related to the betting scandal that got him banned from the NBA in April and led to federal charges for four other men last month.

He was released on a $250,000 bond after his guilty plea and had to forfeit his passport. Porter’s sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 18, and he faces 41-51 months in prison, based on sentencing guidelines. But Porter is attempting to play basketball again and has asked the federal judge to let him travel to Petras, Greece, where he intends to live in team-approved housing with his wife and the son they are expecting. Porter would be closely supervised by his mother and mother-in-law and his new team, according to the letter filed by his lawyer, and his new team would accommodate his need to travel back to New York for his court obligations.

“The proposed modification would allow Mr. Porter to pursue a very fortunate — and quickly diminishing — opportunity to earn income through his primary skillset,” Jeff Jensen, a lawyer for Porter, wrote. “Mr. Porter, and more importantly his agent, believe such an opportunity is unlikely to arise again. As you may know, Mr. Porter was recently banned from the National Basketball Association. Mr. Porter’s primary skillset and means of earning a living involve playing professional basketball. He left college early in 2020 to enter the NBA Draft and has not yet finished earning credits towards his college degree. Since being banned from the NBA there have been no other opportunities available to continue his basketball career. Mr. Porter has a limited window to earn an income through professional basketball during his prime earning years as a professional athlete.”

The NBA banned Porter after its investigation found that he bet on Raptors games and manipulated his own performance so others could win prop bets on him. Four men were charged with conspiracy to defraud a sports betting company, and Porter was referred to as Player 1 in the complaint, where he is alleged to have taken himself out early from two Raptors games last season to help the men win money after they placed bets on the under on prop bets on Porter. One man bet $80,000 on a parlay of bets involving Porter and won $1.1 million, according to the league’s investigation.

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(Photo: Alika Jenner / NBAE via Getty Images)