MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents served multiple search warrants Tuesday in Minnesota in an ongoing fraud investigation by the Trump administration of publicly funded social programs, authorities said.
Few details were released, though armed agents were seen outside child care centers in the Minneapolis area. KSTP-TV said one crew even had a battering ram.
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who has been on the defensive amid Trump administration claims that he hasn't done enough to root out fraud, welcomed the raids. The state child welfare agency said it shared key information with law enforcement.
“We catch criminals when state and federal agencies share information. Joint investigations work, and securing justice depends on it,” Walz said.
Tensions between Minnesota officials and the federal government were high during an extraordinary immigration crackdown that led to the deaths of two people before the operation was eased in February.
Before that crackdown, the government had brought fraud charges against dozens of people, many of them Somali Americans, who were accused of fleecing a federal program that was meant to provide food to children. The investigation began during the Biden administration. More than 60 people have been convicted.
“Homeland Security Investigations in cooperation with our law enforcement partners executed criminal search warrants in Minneapolis relating to the rampant fraud of U.S. taxpayers dollars,” the department said.
The department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to requests for more information Tuesday. Agents were seen outside various daycare centers.
In February, Vice President JD Vance said the Trump administration would temporarily halt $243 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota over fraud concerns. Minnesota sued in response, warning it may have to cut healthcare for low-income families, but a judge on April 6 declined to grant a restraining order.
Walz told Congress in March that he wanted to work with the federal government to help with fraud investigations, but that the immigration surge was making it more difficult.
“The people of Minnesota have been singled out and targeted for political retribution at an unparalleled scale,” he said at the time.
A federal officer stands outside the Mako Child Care Center in Minneapolis, Minn., Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (Anthony Soufflé/Minnesota Star Tribune via AP)
FBI agents walk outside the Mako Child Care Center in Minneapolis, Minn. on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (Anthony Soufflé/Minnesota Star Tribune via AP)
FILE - Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on oversight of fraud and misuse of Federal funds in Minnesota, March 4, 2026, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr., File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones became the first person to plead guilty Tuesday in a gambling sweep that led to the arrests of more than 30 people, including reputed mobsters and other basketball figures.
Jones, 49, entered a guilty plea to a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud during the first of back-to-back plea-change hearings in Brooklyn federal court. Sentencing guidelines call for a punishment of 21-27 months in prison, and Jones also agreed to forfeit $35,000. His sentencing is set for Jan. 6, 2027, before Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall
Reading a prepared statement to the court, he acknowledged that he conspired with others to defraud sports betting companies by using “insider information that I obtained as a result of my relationships as a former player.”
“I would like to sincerely apologize to the court, my family, my peers and also the National Basketball Association,” Jones said.
He said the goal of the conspiracy, which ran from December 2022 to March 2024, was to use his insider knowledge — which prosecutors say involved nonpublic information about injuries to NBA stars — to make money from sports books.
He acknowledged that his actions violated the NBA’s code of conduct and also the terms of service on sports betting websites.
Jones was charged in separate cases with profiting from rigged poker games and providing sports bettors with nonpublic information about injuries to stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, according to court filings.
None of the other defendants have shown a willingness to plead guilty. On Monday, prosecutors said they were seeking additional charges against a co-defendant in the betting case, former Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.
Jones’ lawyer, Kenneth Montgomery, declined to comment before Tuesday's hearings.
Jones was arrested last October along with Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups, and others, including a sports bettor accused of cashing in on injury information.
Jones was one of three people charged in both the poker and sports betting schemes.
Originally from Galveston, Texas, Jones earned more than $20 million playing for 10 teams in 11 seasons from 1999 to 2009. He and James played together in Cleveland from 2005 to 2008, and Jones served as an unofficial assistant coach for James’ Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-2023 season.
Prosecutors say Jones sold or attempted to sell nonpublic information to bettors that James and former Lakers forward Anthony Davis were injured and either wouldn’t be playing or would play less time in certain games.
In the poker scheme, prosecutors say Jones was among former NBA players used to lure unwitting gamblers to poker games that were rigged using altered shuffling machines, hidden cameras, special sunglasses and even X-ray equipment built into the table.
According to the indictment, Jones was paid $2,500 for a game in the Hamptons where he was instructed to cheat by paying close attention to others involved in the scheme. When in doubt, Jones was told to fold his hand, prosecutors said.
In response, according to prosecutors, Jones texted: “Y’all know I know what I’m doing!!”
Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones arrives at Brooklyn federal court, Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones arrives at Brooklyn federal court, Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones arrives at Brooklyn federal court, Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones arrives at Brooklyn federal court, Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones, left, arrives at Brooklyn federal court, Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
FILE - Former NBA basketball player and assistant coach Damon Jones arrives at Brooklyn federal court, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)
