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David Purdum
Multiple Authors
Federal prosecutors said Monday they had developed evidence that Terry Rozier solicited and received a bribe during an alleged gambling scheme and that they were planning to file additional charges against the veteran NBA player in the coming weeks.
Assistant U.S. attorney Kaitlin Farrell said in court in New York City that the government expects to file superseding charges of sports bribery and honest services wire fraud against Rozier by mid-May. The new charges from the Eastern District of New York would make the NBA the victim of the alleged scheme.
The Athletic first reported the potential for new charges, and ESPN confirmed the details through multiple sources familiar with Monday’s hearing.
Rozier was initially charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering stemming from an investigation into suspicious betting on a 2023 NBA game in which he played while with the Charlotte Hornets. Monday’s hearing was to address Rozier’s motion to dismiss the initial charges, but the oral arguments were overshadowed by the revelation of a potential superseding indictment. The judge did not rule on the motion to dismiss.
Rozier’s attorney Jim Trusty, a partner at Ifrah Law, said prosecutors informed him of the potential superseding charges two hours before Monday’s hearing.
“Our motion to dismiss is based on the idea that they picked an invalid legal theory to prosecute Terry Rozier,” Trusty told ESPN on Monday. “We’ll see what they do to try to fix that in the superseding indictment, but I expect we’ll have problems with it.”
Rozier is one of six men who were indicted in October on charges related to a gambling investigation that focused on the sharing of inside information in the NBA. Federal prosecutors allege that Rozier told co-defendant and childhood friend Deniro Laster that he would remove himself early from a March 23, 2023, game between the Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans. Laster allegedly sold the information to bettors, who wagered on the unders on Rozier’s statistics, according to the indictment. Many of the bets won after Rozier removed himself from the game after nine minutes with five points, two assists and four rebounds.
Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones, a co-defendant in the case, is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to charges related to the case.
