Miami Heat player pleads not guilty to betting scheme

An NBA player accused of faking an injury as part of a sports betting conspiracy pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn federal court on Monday to wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges.

Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, who was arrested on Oct. 23, pleaded not guilty and was released on a $3 million bond secured by his Florida residence and another home, the location of which is not public.

The 31-year-old also appeared before U.S. District Judge LaShann D’Arcy Hall, alongside co-defendants Eric Earnest, Marves Fairley, Shane Hennen, Damon Jones and De’Niro Laster, for a brief status conference.

Prosecutors at the hearing indicated that plea negotiations are underway, and Rozier’s defense attorney, Jim Trusty of Ifrah Law, said he plans to file a motion to dismiss the charges based on the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ciminelli v. United States.

Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

Trusty told reporters afterward that he is looking forward to bringing that defense.

“We’re excited about litigating a legal motion about legal innocence — and we still have factual innocence to deal with — but for now, getting an opportunity to litigate a significant legal motion is a good thing,” Trusty said.

According to prosecutors , while playing for the Charlotte Hornets in the 2022-2023 season, Rozier told Laster — his longtime friend, who also pleaded not guilty to charges on Monday — that in the first quarter of a March 2023 game against the New Orleans Pelicans, he was going to “was going to prematurely remove himself from the game in the first quarter due to a supposed injury and not return to play further.”

Then, prosecutors say, Laster, Fairley and Hennen placed bets worth more than $200,000 predicting that Rozier would underperform, winning tens of thousands of dollars in turn.

In another instance detailed in court filings, Earnest is accused of passing along a tip from a longtime friend and NBA coach that several top Blazers players would sit out a game against the Chicago Bulls. Before the news went public, Fairley and others bet more than $100,000 against the Blazers, law enforcement says, and “yielded major winnings.”

The betting charges followed a sweeping investigation that led to a second indictment unsealed in late October, accusing 31 defendants , including former NBA player Damon Jones and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups , of participating in a mafia-linked gambling ring involving rigged poker games.