A sports-betting guru caught up in the explosive NBA gambling scandal attempted to flee the country in January with $10,000 and a one-way ticket to Colombia, court papers reveal. Shane “Sugar” Hennen, 40, was apprehended at Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport as federal authorities closed in on a separate point-shaving case involving him and former NBA player Jontay Porter.
The point-shaving scheme, detailed in court documents, served as a prelude to the stunning twin indictments unveiled on Thursday. The feds accused Hennen, a convicted felon known for flaunting his gambling wins on Instagram, of masterminding a plan in which Porter would fake injuries to pull himself out of games, allowing them to place lucrative bets.
Porter eventually pleaded guilty in the game-rigging scandal and was banned from the NBA. Meanwhile, after his failed attempt to flee, Hennen entered into plea negotiations in that case.
What initially appeared to be an isolated affair unraveled into a much wider gambling probe. On Thursday, authorities arrested 31 individuals, including wiseguys from four Mafia families, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former NBA player Damon Jones.
Hennen faces charges in both indictments—covering illegal sports betting and rigged poker games. According to court documents, he allegedly supplied cheating technology, such as card-shuffling machines altered to digitally read the cards in the deck, which was used in the crooked poker games.
The sports betting indictment also details how Hennen placed bets based on Porter’s fake injuries. More explosively, it alleges that Terry Rozier, who had been previously cleared by the NBA after a probe into unusual betting activity, told conspirators he would pull himself out of a 2023 game with an injury.
Hennen reportedly directed a network of bettors who wagered $200,000 on Rozier’s underperformance. The indictment states:
“Rozier’s early exit from the March 23 game and his related underperformance relative to his season averages for points, assists, and three-pointers resulted in the success of numerous fraudulent wagers placed on Rozier’s unders by the defendants and their co-conspirators.”
This sprawling scandal has rocked the NBA and highlighted the growing challenges authorities face in combatting illegal sports gambling and game manipulation.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/24/us-news/sports-betting-guru-sugar-caught-in-prelude-to-nba-gambling-case/