By Jack Queen
NEW YORK, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn federal court on Monday to charges that he conspired to rig bets on his performance in NBA games, in a case stemming from a broader gambling investigation involving pro basketball players and the Mafia.
Rozier pleaded not guilty to wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy before Magistrate Judge Clay H. Kaminsky.
The plea came ahead of a court hearing later on Monday for Rozier and his five co-defendants, including former Cleveland Cavaliers guard Damon Jones, who previously pleaded not guilty.
The case is one of the latest to charge athletes with rigging bets on their performance, raising concerns about the integrity of pro sports amid the explosion of legalized sports betting in the U.S. in recent years.
Jones was also charged in a related case against NBA Hall of Famer and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups. They are accused of conspiring with Mafia associates to rig illicit poker games. Jones and Billups have pleaded not guilty, along with their 29 co-defendants.
The bet-fixing scheme ran from 2022 to 2024 and involved hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of fraudulent wagers, prosecutors said in an indictment.
Rozier and Jones are accused of passing insider information obtained from NBA players and coaches to a network of bettors who used them to place wagers through online sportsbooks and retail betting outlets.
In one example cited by prosecutors, Rozier is accused of tipping off co-conspirators that he planned to leave a March 2023 game early with an injury, allowing them to cash in on bets that he would come in under his projected statistics lines.
Jones is accused of trading on insider information such as lineup decisions and undisclosed medical diagnoses for players, including unidentified stars on the Los Angeles Lakers in 2023 and 2024.
Other defendants in the case who are not players are accused of rigging bets on Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter, who pleaded guilty to a criminal conspiracy charge over his role in a sports gambling scandal that earned him a lifetime ban from the NBA.
Brooklyn federal prosecutors recently charged Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz with fixing bets on their pitches in Major League Baseball games. Both men have pleaded not guilty, and a trial is set for May 2026.
(Reporting by Jack Queen in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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