Jontay Porter and his lawyers are asking a federal judge to modify his bail conditions so he can travel overseas to play basketball.
The basketball player pleaded guilty earlier this month to a federal charge of wire fraud conspiracy in connection with a gambling scandal that led to him being banned for life from the NBA and four other men facing federal charges.
Porter’s lawyer, Jeff Jenson, on Tuesday asked Judge Rashan Diassie Hall to allow Porter to travel to Greece to play professional basketball for Promisesas Patras BC in the Greek Basketball League.
After pleading guilty, Porter was released on $250,000 bail but had to surrender his passport, which Jenson is now seeking as part of a modified sentence.
In the letter, obtained by The Post, he also asked for permission for Porter to travel to Europe and for a residence permit in Patras, Greece.
The letter said the U.S. Attorney’s Office and U.S. Pretrial Services officials had no objections and that Porter would be accompanied by his wife while under close supervision by his Greek team, his mother and his mother-in-law.
Jenson also wrote that Prometheus BC recognizes he will need to return to New York for his court obligations and that he “will be very accommodating to a proposed flexible schedule to meet those obligations.”
Porter’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 18, and he faces between 41 and 51 months in prison, according to sentencing guidelines, The Athletic reported.
The former Raptors player was banned from the NBA in April, becoming the first active player and coach to be banned by the NBA since Jack Molinas in 1954.
An NBA investigation found that Porter bet on Raptors games and manipulated his own performance to help others win prop bets made against him.
According to indictments filed last month by federal prosecutors against four others, Porter had significant gambling debts and agreed to retire early from matches because of injuries.
In one instance, a man bet $80,000 on a Porter-related parlay and won $1.1 million.
The incident has made it difficult for Porter to find work in basketball, and his lawyer said he was “fortunate” to get the job at Promissius BC.
“The proposed amendment would allow Mr. Porter to pursue an extremely fortunate (and rapidly diminishing) opportunity to earn an income through his primary skill set. Mr. Porter, and more importantly his agent, believe that such an opportunity is unlikely to occur again,” Jenson wrote. “As you may be aware, Mr. Porter was recently expelled from the National Basketball Association. Mr. Porter’s primary skill set and means of livelihood is playing professional basketball. He dropped out of college in early 2020 to enter the NBA Draft and has not yet completed the necessary credits for a college degree.
“Since being banned by the NBA, he has had no other opportunities to continue his basketball career. Mr. Porter now has limited opportunities to earn income from professional basketball at a time when he is in the prime of his career as a professional athlete.”
Porter played basketball at the University of Missouri and went undrafted in 2020, then bounced between the NBA and NBA G League.
He played 26 games for the Raptors in the 2023-24 season before serving his suspension.
