Sixth Person Arrested In Jontay Porter Gambling Scandal, Text Messages Revealed In Court

Shane Hennen was arrested on Sunday, Jan. 13 at an airport in Las Vegas as he was boarding a flight to Panama

The scandal involving former NBA player Jontay Porter has just ensnared another as the sixth person implicated in the scheme was arrested.

According to The Associated Press, Shane Hennen was arrested on Sunday, Jan. 13, at an airport in Las Vegas as he was boarding a flight to Panama. He was released without bail after being arraigned on charges including wire fraud conspiracy. He allegedly placed bets through proxies after other people who were involved in the scheme informed him about Porter’s plans for an NBA game that took place on Jan. 26, 2024. He also was privy to another NBA game on March 20 and informed other people to place bets.

Porter, who was playing for the Toronto Raptors at the time, has already pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing that has been scheduled for May. Among the other four people involved, two have pleaded guilty, another has pleaded not guilty, and the fourth person hasn’t entered a plea. It’s been reported that there may still be others who were a part of the scheme.

While playing in the league, Porter admitted to withdrawing from games, saying he was injured or sick, knowing he informed others of his plans so they could bet on him underperforming. Court documents revealed text messages sent from Porter to his alleged co-conspirators during the time of the crimes.

“Hit unders for the big numbers,” Porter allegedly texted to an alleged conspirator on Jan. 26, 2024.

“No blocks, no steals. I’m going to play first 2-3 minute stints off the bench then when I get subbed out tell them my eye killing me again,” Porter wrote, according to the complaint.

He had scratched an eye during a game on Jan. 22, 2024. He contacted his co-conspirators by text from the arena, yet wasn’t included on the injured list when he played again four days later. Porter played about 4 1/2 minutes in that game before pulling out of the contest, saying he had aggravated the eye problem.

At his game on March 20, 2024, after less than three minutes, he left the game saying he felt sick. His performance in those two games was well below what sportsbooks had anticipated.

While in court in July 2024, Porter stated that he got involved in the scheme to try to clear his gambling debts.

The NBA banned Porter for life.

When Porter is sentenced, he is facing jail time up to 20 years behind bars; prosecutors estimated his sentence to be about 3 1/2 to four years in prison.