Terry Rozier Pleads Not Guilty to Alleged Prop-Betting Scheme

Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier pleaded not guilty in a Brooklyn federal court, Monday, to charges that he manipulated his performance to win hundreds of thousands of dollars in an illegal sports betting scheme. 

According to the New York Times, Rozier appeared in court wearing a gray suit and responded to a few questions from Judge Clay Kaminsky. Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, entered a plea of “not guilty to charges of money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy.”

Rozier is a part of several recent federal investigations into sports gambling. “In October, Chauncey Billups, a former NBA star and current head coach, was charged with running rigged poker games, along with 30 other defendants. Last month, two Major League Baseball pitchers with the Cleveland Guardians were charged with tipping off gamblers to specific pitches they would be throwing. All have pleaded not guilty,” the Times reports. 

Rozier, 31, was in his 11th season when he was placed on leave from the NBA to deal with his court case. Rozier starred at the University of Louisville for two seasons before joining the Boston Celtics in 2015. He would join the Charlotte Hornets in 2019 before being traded to the Miami Heat in 2023.

Prosecutors claim that while Rozier was playing for the Hornets in 2023, his childhood friend and co-conspirator De’Niro Laster that he would leave the March 23 game against the New Orleans Pelicans with a foot issue. Rozier had been averaging around 20 points per game. Bettors are allowed to bet on individual players’ performances based on their averages making this information extremely valuable. Rozier played only 10 minutes in the game and scored just 5 points. 

“Mr. Rozier’s case has highlighted the rise of prop bets, which have made information about a player’s participation in forthcoming games particularly valuable. Unlike wagers on a game’s outcome, prop bets are tied to an individual athlete’s performance. They have also drawn attention to sports’ leagues entanglement with gambling companies in the era of legal sports betting,” the Times reports. 

Prosecutors allege that Laster and other people who were charged made a series of wagers on Rozier’s under in points scored. The total of these bets was more than $200,000. 

“After the March 2023 game, prosecutors said, Mr. Laster picked up his share of the fraudulent winnings in cash from a co-conspirator and then drove through the night to Mr. Rozier’s home in Charlotte, N.C., to count their spoils together,” the Times reports. 

RELATED: Terry Rozier & Chauncey Billups’ Arrests In Federal Gambling Probes Set NBA World On Fire

Terry Rozier Pleads Not Guilty to Federal Charges in Alleged Prop-Betting Scheme was originally published on cassiuslife.com