Jontay Porter and his attorney are asking a federal judge to modify the terms of his bail to allow him to travel abroad to play basketball.
The basketball player pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud earlier this month in connection with the betting case that earned him a lifetime ban from the NBA and led to four other men facing federal charges.
Porter’s attorney, Jeff Jenson, asked Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall on Tuesday to allow Porter to travel to Greece to play professional basketball for Promitheas Patras BC of the Greek Basketball League.
As part of his $250,000 bail after pleading guilty, Porter was required to surrender his passport, which Jenson is now asking him to get back as part of the amendment.
He also requested in the letter obtained by the Post that Porter be allowed to travel to Europe and that he also be allowed to reside in Patras, Greece.
The letter stated that the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Pretrial Services Officer had no objections and that Porter would be accompanied by his wife while being closely monitored by his Greek team, his mother and his mother-in-law.
Jenson also wrote that Promitheas BC was aware of his need to return to New York for court obligations and would be “very accommodating with a proposed schedule of flexibility to meet any obligations.”
Porter is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 18 and faces between 41 and 51 months in prison, according to sentencing guidelines, The Athletic reported.
The former Raptors player was banned by the NBA in April, becoming the first active player or coach to be expelled from the association since Jack Molinas in 1954.
An NBA investigation found that Porter bet on Raptors games and manipulated his own performance in order to help others win prop bets that were placed on him.
In a complaint filed against four other men by federal prosecutors last month, it was alleged that Porter had large gambling debts and agreed to withdraw early from games by pretending to be injured.
In one case, a man bet $80,000 on a Porter-related combo bet and won $1.1 million.
The incident made it difficult for Porter to find work in basketball, and his lawyer called the opportunity at Promitheas BC “fortunate.”
“The proposed amendment would allow Mr. Porter to take advantage of a very fortunate – and rapidly diminishing – opportunity to earn income from his primary skill. Mr. Porter, and more importantly, his agent, believe that such an opportunity is unlikely to arise again,” Jenson wrote. “As you may know, Mr. Porter was recently banned from the National Basketball Association. Mr. Porter’s primary skill and livelihood is playing professional basketball. He left college in early 2020 to enter the NBA draft and has not yet finished accumulating credits toward his college degree.
“Since being banned from the NBA, he has had no further opportunity to pursue his basketball career. Mr. Porter has little opportunity to earn income from professional basketball during his prime career years as a professional athlete.”
Porter played college basketball at Missouri and bounced between the NBA and NBA G-League after going undrafted in 2020.
He played 26 games for the Raptors during the 2023-24 season before being banned.
