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Kristaps Porzingis' lawyer, Roland G. Riopelle, has cooperated with the New York District Attorney's office in the investigation of his client's alleged sexual assault against a woman who lived in his Manhattan apartment building. The woman went to the police after Porzingis allegedly failed to pay her $68,000, which she says he had promised her for her brother's college fund.
“We have been contacted by (New York County) the District Attorney's office and we are cooperating fully with their investigation,” wrote Riopelle in a statement, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. “We have agreed to provide the District Attorney's Office with the materials that we previously provided to the federal authorities in support of our extortion complaint. We are confident that, after the District Attorney reviews these materials, they will recognize that the complaint made in this case is completely meritless.”
The original claim by the alleged victim was first brought to the authorities in December, but hadn't been brought to light to the Mavericks, who reportedly never hear the word “rape” when the New York Knicks informed them of his pending legal case prior to his trade to Dallas in January.
Riopelle claims his client is the target of an extortion attempt. He says he has conducted his own investigation in hopes to clear Porzingis' name. Porzingis' team's investigation took a deep dive into the woman's public record, legal history and social media identities, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. However, it does not shed any light on the alleged Feb. 7 incident.
That Feb. 7 date, when the alleged incident occurred, was the same night Porzingis, then a member of the Knicks, suffered a torn ACL in his left knee. He has not played in an NBA game since.
Riopelle sent his findings to the Knicks, the NBA, the National Basketball Players Association and later the Mavericks. According to the attorney, all four parties came to a consensus that Porzingis was the target of an extortion attempt.
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“Based on our investigation everyone agreed that these allegations appeared to be an attempt to extort Mr. Porzingis,” Riopelle said. “Ultimately when they did not stop we went to law enforcement in December, three-and-a-half-months ago, and reported the demands from the complaining witness as an extortion.”
Porzingis admitted to having sexual relations with the woman on Feb. 7, but has denied any wrong doing on his part.
The NBPA sided with Porzingis, according to a statement from executive director Michele Roberts.
“We have been aware of these allegations for some time, have evaluated the accuser’s claims and, based on what is presently before us, stand with Kristaps,” Roberts said.
