Hours after his arrest on Thursday morning, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, as a federal investigation alleges he manipulated his playing time to profit and aid a group of sports bettors.
Key Takeaways
- Joint task force indicted 34 defendants on wire fraud charges.
- Rozier allegedly told a group of bettors he would manipulate his playing time to hit under props.
- Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones were involved in a rigged poker game.
The FBI, U.S. Attorney’s Office from the Eastern District of New York, Homeland Security Investigations, and local New York law enforcement officials released information on Thursday on Rozier’s activity in a widespread gambling scandal case. Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones were also indicted on a separate case involving a rigged poker game.
Rozier was part of 34 defendants being charged in the two separate gambling cases that are part of an ongoing, multi-year investigation across 11 states, FBI Director Kash Patel said. Jones is one of three defendants charged in both cases.
“The fraud is mind-boggling,” he said. “We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in theft, in fraud, in robbery.”
Rozier is scheduled to appear in a federal court in Miami on Thursday afternoon and in a New York court at a later date.
The NBA, which cooperated with the federal investigation, announced shortly after the FBI’s news conference that Rozier and Billups have been placed on immediate leave while the league reviews the indictments.
NBA statement on Billups and Rozier being placed on leave from their respective teams: https://t.co/Bm1rC3Jwq1 pic.twitter.com/aoXqj4IEAL
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 23, 2025
Game manipulation
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced that “Operation Nothing But Bet,” a joint effort with the FBI, “exposed a gambling ring built around professional basketball.”
“As the NBA season tips off, (Rozier’s) career is already benched, not for injury, but for integrity,” Tisch said.
Players allegedly used inside information to manipulate player prop bets placed at online sportsbooks and casinos. The bets were placed on unders involving player points, rebounds, and assists.
The case is tied to Jontay Porter, a former NBA player who was banned from the league and pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud charges. Rozier and other defendants in the case allegedly had provided inside information for a fee or a share of the betting profits.
Rozier is accused of “letting others close to him” know that, before a game, he would remove himself with an injury during a March 2023 contest he participated in while a member of the Charlotte Hornets. The federal task force said bettors placed $200,000 on his under props.
Rozier left the game with a “supposed” injury after nine minutes of action against the New Orleans Pelicans, “generating tens of thousands of dollars in profit,” Tisch said. The group of bettors later delivered Rozier's “proceeds” to his home.
In a statement to the media, Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, called the arrest a “photo op” designed to embarrass Rozier, who “looks forward to winning this fight.”
Terry Rozier's lawyer gives a statement to @pablofindsout:
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) October 23, 2025
"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…
Rozier did not play in the team’s season opener on Wednesday due to a coach’s decision. Rozier was cleared by the NBA earlier this year after after online sports betting operators flagged the Hornets’ 2023 game when a bettor placed more than $13,000 in under wagers on Rozier’s props in Biloxi, Miss.
Insider saga
Five other individuals have also been indicted in the case against Rozier, including the reported “mastermind” Shane Hennen and the group of men behind Porter’s 2024 game-manipulation scheme.
“This is the insider-trader saga for the NBA,” Patel said. “That’s why we’re going to take heat, but as the evidence comes out, as the indictments are unsealed, you will see the extensive work that these men and women put in.”
U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. called the prop betting scandal “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized” in 2018. The illegal gambling involved games played by the Hornets, Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, and Portland Trail Blazers.
“Between December 2022 and March 2024, these defendants perpetrated a scheme to defraud by betting on inside, non-public information about NBA athletes and teams,” Nocella said. “They relied on corrupt individuals, including Jones and Rozier, and they misused information obtained through longstanding friendships that they had with NBA players and coaches.”
The U.S. Attorney said the co-conspirators used “straw bettors” to place maximum wagers across the country. Nocella said “most of these bets succeeded” and were in the “millions of dollars” won from sportsbooks. The bettors used multiple methods to launder winnings.
Nocella said that sports betting operators are “victims” and did nothing unlawful in this case. The names of the defrauded sportsbooks will be released at a later time.
“If you are participating in the legal gambling industry, you’ve got nothing to worry about,” Patel said. “If you’re participating in illegal conduct, you’ve got everything to worry about, and this case shows it.”
None of Thursday’s indictments involve an ongoing college basketball investigation that involves more than a handful of schools.
Rigged poker games
At the same new conference on Thursday, federal investigators announced that Billups, an NBA Hall of Famer, and Jones were arrested and indicted for helping operate a Mafia-backed poker game designed to cheat players out of millions of dollars.
“Not only did we crack into the fraud that these perpetrators committed on the grand stage of the NBA, but we also entered and executed a system of justice against La Cosa Nostra, to include the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese crime families,” Patel said.
Billups and Jones were alleged to be part of a scam to lure victims to the poker game with the promise of playing cards alongside professional athletes. However, perpetrators allegedly used wireless cheating technology, including altered shuffling machines, to fleece victims of more than $7 million, HSI said.
The Mafia helped organize the games, taking a cut and providing enforcement of debt collections. Earnings were laundered through crypto transactions, shell companies, and cash exchanges. Some defendants in the case have also been charged with robbery and extortion.
“Your winning streak is over,” Nocella said.
