Terry Rozier Enters Not Guilty Plea to Sports-Betting Conspiracy
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NEW YORK — Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier pleaded not guilty on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, to federal wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges that accuse him of assisting gamblers who wagered on his individual performance in an NBA game.
The 31-year-old appeared in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, where Magistrate Judge Clay Kaminsky released him on a $3 million bond secured by his Florida home. Rozier was ordered not to gamble or possess firearms and was barred from contacting alleged victims, co-defendants or witnesses. He surrendered his passport and may travel only to Florida, Ohio and New York without prior court approval.
Prosecutors say Rozier informed acquaintances that he planned to exit a March 2023 game against the New Orleans Pelicans early with a supposed injury while playing for the Charlotte Hornets, enabling bettors to collect tens of thousands of dollars. He left that game after nine minutes and 36 seconds, citing a foot issue, and did not play again that season.
Rozier, dressed in a gray suit, spoke only to answer “yes” or “no” to procedural questions. After the brief arraignment, he and attorney Jim Trusty declined comment. A pretrial hearing with five co-defendants was scheduled for later in the day. Rozier first appeared in the case on Oct. 23 in Orlando, when the indictment was unsealed; his lawyer said then that the veteran guard is “not a gambler” and intends to fight the charges.
More than 30 individuals, including reputed organized-crime figures, have been arrested in the broader federal probe into illegal sports gambling. Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups has pleaded not guilty in a separate case alleging efforts to rig high-stakes, Mafia-backed poker games. Former NBA player Damon Jones also pleaded not guilty last month to accusations that he shared private injury information on LeBron James and Anthony Davis while working informally with the Los Angeles Lakers; Jones is indicted alongside Billups in the poker investigation.
Both Rozier and Billups are on unpaid leave from their respective teams while their legal matters proceed.
Rozier has earned roughly $160 million over a 10-year NBA career. The Boston Celtics selected him in the first round of the 2015 draft after his collegiate career at Louisville. Charlotte traded him to Miami last year.
Source: ESPN
