ORLANDO, Fla. — More than 30 people have been charged in two criminal cases from a FBI gambling-related probe. Those indicted include multiple sports figures, including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups.
Authorities said the schemes involved rigging sports bets and poker games and involved Mafia families.
Rozier was arrested at an Orlando hotel Thursday morning. He was in uniform at the Heat vs. Magic game Wednesday, although he did not play, according to The Associated Press.
According to investigators, from 2022 to 2024, Rozier was part of a scheme that used nonpublic, insider information to manipulate bets through major sports books and in-person at casinos.
Investigators said hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent bets were placed, most of which were prop bets on individual performance.
According to Rozier’s indictment, while he was a player with the Charlotte Hornets in 2023, he prematurely removed himself from a game after just 9 minutes of playing due to a reported injury. The indictment accuses Rozier of passing that information to co-defendants who placed more than $200,000 in wagers predicting Rozier would underperform.
The Justice Department says a co-defendant of Rozier also profited from a tip through an inside connection with an Orlando Magic player.
A press release from the department said that co-defendant learned that several of the Magic’s top players would sit out of a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. This information had not yet been made public.
According to the release, the co-defendant, Marves Fairley, allegedly placed an approximately $11,000 bet that the Cavaliers would outperform the point spread.
The release alleges that after the lineup change was confirmed and the Cavaliers beat the Magic by 24 points, Fairley and an unnamed co-conspirator pocketed the winnings.
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