Prosecutors in the federal case into rigged poker games that has produced charges against NBA Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and former NBA player Damon Jones said in a brief submitted on Tuesday that they expect to extend formal plea agreements to 12 of the 31 defendants in the case and are "reasonably optimistic" they'll reach plea agreements with nine others before the case goes to trial.
All of the defendants are due in federal court on Wednesday for a status hearing in the case.
Since the previous status hearing on Nov. 24, defendants have been able to review all the evidence in the case, which has been placed under a protective order by the court.
In their brief submitted Tuesday, the prosecutors said the evidence includes body-worn camera footage; records concerning the defendants' arrests; electronic evidence seized from seven electronic devices and Apple iCloud accounts; over 100,000 pages of financial records and telephone records; over 800 pages of surveillance photographs; and pole camera footage from 147 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, one of the sites of the alleged rigged poker games.
The government has separately produced approximately seven terabytes of electronic data from electronic devices and iCloud accounts of individual defendants, which were seized upon their arrests in October.
The latest filing did not mention particular defendants or say whether Billups is among those considering a plea deal.
Billups has been on unpaid administrative leave from his job as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers since his arrest. He pleaded not guilty to the money laundering and wire fraud charges against him in November.
He has been living in the Denver area, sources close to him told ESPN, since being released on $5 million bail.
