He claims betting on the Knicks as a kid led to his gambling addiction — and now rooting the club on at one of its rare playoff games might have helped land wealthy Manhattan art dealer Hillel “Helly” Nahmad in jail.
Manhattan federal Judge Jesse Furman on Wednesday sentenced the notorious playboy son of billionaire art dealer David Nahmad to a year and a day behind bars for being a major player in a $100 million high-stakes international gambling ring that drew A-list celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Alex Rodriguez.
The 35-year-old Nahmad also agreed to fork over $6.4 million in restitution and the rights to the 1937 painting Carnaval à Nice by American artist Raoul Dufy.
“The record here before me reveals that the defendant has contempt for the law — and that he believes the rules apply to everyone else,” Furman said.
But before issuing his sentence, Furman cited a photo of Nahmad sitting center court at a Knicks game, published in The Post May 3, 2013. It was taken just weeks after he was indicted for running the gambling ring, which had ties to the Russian mob, from his $21.7 million Trump Tower condo.
Free on $10 million bail, he could be seen cheering hard with his powerhouse lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, and Spike Lee two seats away. And Nahmad was sporting a Bicycle Playing Cards cap with a “King” card emblazoned on it.
In arguing Nahmad should serve a minimum of a year in jail, prosecutors said the scene depicted in the photo suggests he was “apparently making light of the seriousness of the gambling charges.”
Brafman argued Nahmad should get only probation because he had an otherwise clean record. The lawyer also claimed Nahmad got hooked on gambling by age 14, using a bookie to bet on Knicks games.
Furman said it’s “not a crime to go to a Knicks game” — even though they “might not be good.” But he also said it “struck” him as “surprising” that Nahmad would wear a cap flaunting gambling only days after being indicted with 33 others — including reputed Russian mobsters and notorious Hollywood “poker madam” Molly Bloom — for being part of the international ring.
Nahmad ran a high-stakes, illegal gambling enterprise with reputed Russian mobster Illya Trincher, 53, that catered primarily to millionaire and billionaire clients, the feds say. Their business relied on several online illegal gambling websites to generate tens of millions of dollars of sports bets since 2012.
Tricher, 53, of Manhattan, also copped a plea and was sentenced Wednesday to five years behind bars. Furman gave him more than double the amount of “recommended” jail time he and the feds agreed to when cutting their plea deal.
Brafman said he was to blame for convincing a “depressed” Nahmad to attend the Knicks game to lift his spirits — and that the cap was not worn to send “an in-your-face” message.
Wearing the cap apparently didn’t bring Nahmad – or his beloved Knicks – luck, anyway. The club wound up losing the playoff-closeout game against the Celtics before ultimately winning their first playoff series series since 2000 days later in Boston.
Prior to sentencing, a teary eyed Nahmad told Furman that he is “ashamed,” has brought “dishonor” to his family, and that his arrest taught him “a very, very, hard humiliating lesson.” He claimed he no longer gambles.
Nahmad had asked for probation so he could remain free to run his Manhattan art gallery and repay his debt to society by teaching art to underprivileged children.
But Furman said he believes that if Nahmad was genuine about giving back to others he would have begun the program months before being sentenced.
Nahmad’s lawyers have said the conviction won’t impact operations at the Helly Nahmad Gallery at the Carlyle Hotel— a seller of exquisite works by Chagall, Warhol and other top artists.
The feds say the gambling ring was led by legendary Russian gangster Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, who helmed the operation from overseas. Already wanted for trying to fix skating competitions at the 2002 Olympics, he has eluded capture for years despite extradition attempts.