Heat guard Terry Rozier was arrested early Thursday morning at a hotel in Orlando, Fla., as part of an FBI investigation into an illegal sports gambling ring, per ESPN's Shams Charania.
In a news conference held Thursday morning by FBI director Kash Patel and the Eastern District of New York, Rozier was listed as one of six defendants along with former NBA player Damon Jones in the sports betting case dubbed “Operation Nothing But Bet.”
MORE: Terry Rozier Investigation Timeline: From Initial Reports to Gambling Arrest
According to the indictment, Rozier, Jones and other defendants had “access to private information known by NBA players or NBA coaches” and provided that information to coconspirators for a fee or share of profits.
Patel said the arrests Thursday—a total of 34, including Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups for his alleged involvement in an illegal poker operation tied to the Mafia—were the result of an investigation over years that involved tens of millions of dollars.
Back in January, it was reported Rozier was under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York for potentially cooperating in an illegal sports betting scheme. On March 23, 2023, while a member of the Hornets, Rozier played just nine minutes and 34 seconds of game time and logged just five points, four rebounds and two personal fouls before leaving the game with a foot injury.
Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde and Michael Rosenberg reported in February that Rozier’s case is tied to Jontay Porter, the former Raptors forward who admitted to taking himself out of games in 2024 so gamblers could win prop bets.
The NBA found no violation of league rules in its own investigation.
“We have represented Terry Rozier for over a year,” Jim Trusty, Rozier’s attorney, said in a statement to Pablo Torre. “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. 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. 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.”
Rozier, in his 11th NBA season, did not play due to a coach’s decision in Miami’s season-opening 125–121 loss to the Magic on Wednesday night.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Heat’s Terry Rozier Arrested Over FBI’s Sports Betting Investigation.
