Federal prosecutors have indicted ex-Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier on extra expenses in connection with a sports activities playing sting, alleging he took a hefty bribe to exit a sport early in March 2023.
Rozier, 32, was charged Thursday in a superseding indictment in Brooklyn federal court with bribery in sporting contests and sincere companies wire fraud conspiracy. Superseding indictments are used when prosecutors need to change or add new expenses to an present legal case.
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Rozier has denied taking part in the playing scheme, and has been preventing to have the case dismissed after pleading not guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy expenses in December. His attorneys argue in half that the authorities’s idea of the case — that he prevented sportsbooks from making knowledgeable choices about accepting certain bets — runs afoul of a latest U.S. Supreme Court ruling that narrowed the federal wire fraud statute.
The new indictment “just confirms that our motion to dismiss was righteous — new charges, new theories, but all just an effort to make something stick,” Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, wrote in an electronic mail to The Associated Press.
Rozier was arrested in October along with former NBA participant Damon Jones, who pleaded guilty last month for his position in schemes to defraud main sportsbooks including DraftKings and FanDuel. Others charged in the case embrace sports activities bettor and influencer Marves Fairley, who pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy, bribery and other federal expenses in connection with playing schemes focusing on basketball video games in the U.S. and China.
Rozier stays free on $3 million bond. The case has saved him off the court this season.
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The new indictment alleges that Rozier not only defrauded sportsbooks, but also the NBA and the group he was taking part in for at the time, the Charlotte Hornets.
Rozier is accused of conspiring with gamblers to go away a sport early, citing a lingering decrease leg damage, so they could money in on more than $250,000 in bets that his factors, assists and other totals would be decrease than what the sportsbooks had set as betting strains.
Not all of the bets were profitable because Rozier collected 4 rebounds, which was more than the betting line, the superseding indictment said. As a end result, after the sport, Rozier and his co-conspirators negotiated a low cost on his bribe, cutting it from $100,000 to about $70,000, the superseding indictment said.
The new indictment against Rozier was filed within hours of the guilty pleas by Fairley, who goes by the identify “Vezino Locks” on Instagram. As half of his plea, Fairley admitted to prosecutors’ allegations that he used insider data to get an edge when betting on NBA, NCAA and Chinese Professional Basketball League video games — including paying Rozier’s longtime buddy $100,000 in exchange for a tip that Rozier was going to go away a sport early.”
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Fairley’s attorney Eric Siegle said his shopper “deeply regrets and is ashamed of his conduct.”
“By publicly acknowledging his guilt and conduct today, Marves is taking the first step toward atoning for his wrongful conduct and to starting his ‘second half’ on the right foot,” Siegle said.
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