Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was arrested Thursday as part of an FBI sports-gambling investigation.
Rozier was one of six people arrested in connection with the probe, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. said. Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones was also among the six arrests after being charged with allegedly providing inside information about NBA games to co-defendants who used it to place sports bets.
Advertisement
The NBA placed Rozier on “immediate leave.”
Rozier, 31, had been under investigation for his actions during a March 23, 2023, NBA game, when he was still a member of the Charlotte Hornets. Prior to the game against the New Orleans Pelicans that season, a bettor placed nearly $14,000 on unders involving Rozier’s statistics. Rozier left the game after just nine minutes due to a foot injury, causing his under bets to win, according to the indictment.
Federal officials allege Rozier had told one of his friends, Deniro Laster, he would pull himself from the game early. Laster, also a defendant in the case, is alleged to have sold the information to bettors for about $100,000.
Rozier was arraigned in court on Thursday and released on bail.
Advertisement
Jim Trusty, Rozier’s lawyer, released a statement to CNN Sports after his client’s arrest.
“We have represented Terry Rozier for over a year. A long time ago we reached out to these prosecutors to tell them we should have an open line of communication. They characterized Terry as a subject, not a target, but at 6 a.m. this morning they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel,” Trusty said.
“It is unfortunate that instead of allowing him to self surrender they opted for a photo op. They wanted the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk. That tells you a lot about the motivations in this case. They appear to be taking the word of spectacularly in-credible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing,” Trusty’s statement continued. “Terry was cleared by the NBA and these prosecutors revived that non-case. Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight.”
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was also one of 31 people charged with operating rigged poker games that allegedly had ties to organized crime. The league also put Billups on leave hours after the FBI’s arrest announcement.
Despite the investigation, Rozier was preparing to play for the Heat during the 2025-26 NBA season. The veteran guard battled a hamstring injury ahead of the team’s season opener Wednesday, but was reportedly available to play in the contest. He did not make an appearance in the team’s 125-121 loss to the Orlando Magic and, according to FBI officials, was then arrested at the team’s hotel in Orlando.
In September, the Hornets canceled a sports betting theme night promotion that was supposed to take place when Rozier and the Heat came to town in March.
Advertisement
The probe into Rozier was previously said to be linked to the one that resulted in Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter being banned from the NBA for life. Porter was investigated after unusual betting activity came in on his unders for two games. Porter left one of those contests with an injury and another with an illness, causing those unders to hit.
An NBA investigation determined Porter leaked “confidential information to sports bettors,” limited his playing time in certain games for betting purposes and bet on NBA games, leading to his lifetime ban.