NBA point guard Terry Rozier tipped off gamblers that he would take himself out of a game early in March of 2023 so they could place bets on him to underperform the betting lines, according to a DOJ indictment unsealed on Thursday.
The feds allege that on March 23, 2023, Rozier informed co-defendant Deniro Laster that he would remove himself from a game against the New Orleans Pelicans in the first quarter over a “supposed injury.” Laster then sold the information Rozier shared with him to multiple co-conspirators, according to the indictment.
One of the co-conspirators who allegedly paid for the information on Rozier was Marves Fairley, a Mississippi man who sells sports betting tips on social media. Fairley and a person referred to as “Co-Conspirator 1” agreed to pay Laster $100,000 from their gambling winnings, the feds allege.
“Prior to the March 23 game, FAIRLEY, LASTER and Co-Conspirator 1 exchanged text messages confirming that ROZIER planned to exit the game prematurely and confirming their plan to place wagers on ROZIER’s under (i.e. that ROZIER would underperform relative to the oddsmakers’ betting lines for his individual performance),” the indictment reads.
Rozier, one of the leading scorers on the Hornets that season, left the game after playing less than 10 minutes and recording just 5 points and two assists.
“ROZIER’s early exit from the March 23 game and his related underperformance relative to his season averages for points, assists, and three-pointers resulted in the success of numerous fraudulent wagers placed on ROZIER’s unders by the defendants and their co-conspirators,” the indictment continues.
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Rozier’s alleged involvement in the conspiracy included the NBA player paying for Laster to travel to Philadelphia to collect the payment from Fairley. Laster then drove to Rozier’s home in Charlotte, where they counted the money that Fairley had paid, according to the indictment.
Rozier, who now plays for the Miami Heat, was previously investigated by the NBA over the March 23 game, but the league ultimately determined that he did nothing wrong. While the NBA concluded its investigation, the DOJ probe continued, until on Thursday, FBI Director Kash Patel announced a massive crackdown on illegal gambling that allegedly implicates four New York mafia families.
“Not only did we crack into the fraud that these perpetrators committed on the grand stage of the NBA, but we also entered and executed a system of justice against La Cosa Nostra, to include the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese crime families,” Patel said.
Former NBA player and coach Damon Jones was also charged in the indictment along with Rozier. Jones is accused of selling insider information on players’ medical information, so that gamblers could place massive bets before injury reports were made public.
