Rozier’s Lawyers Make Bid to Have Betting Charges Tossed

Posted on: December 24, 2025, 08:50h. 

Last updated on: December 24, 2025, 08:50h.

• Rozier’s lawyers ask judge to dismiss federal wire fraud charges
• Rozier is on unpaid leave from the Miami Heat
• Accusation that he worked with gamblers to cash in on prop bets

Lawyers for Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier yesterday asked a judge to throw out sports betting-related charges, accusing federal prosecutors of over-reach.

Rozier was charged during an FBI sports-betting, nation-wide crackdown in October. He pleaded not guilty on Dec. 8 to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy charges and was released on $3 million bond.

Rozier Alleged to Have Worked with Bettors

Rozier’s lawyers, led by James Trusty and A. Jeff Ifrah, argued in a motion to dismiss yesterday that the government overreach boiled down to turning a private dispute over bettors’ use of non-public information for sports betting purposes into a federal case.

The government has billed this case as involving ‘insider betting’ and ‘rigging’ professional basketball games,” Rozier’s lawyers, James M. Trusty and A. Jeff Ifrah, wrote in the motion. “But the indictment alleges something less headline-worthy: that some bettors broke certain sportsbooks’ terms of use against wagering based on non-public information and ‘straw betting.’”

$250K in Prop Bets

Prosecutors allege that Rozier worked with bettors by deliberately pulling himself out of an NBA game in March 2023 just under 10 minutes in, citing a foot issue, while he was a member of the Charlotte Hornets.

That information was passed over to alleged co-conspirator Deniro “Niro” Laster, who then sold the information to bettors, who placed more than $250,000 in prop bets, which Rozier directly benefitted from. The information about Rozier’s injury was not part of Hornets’ injury reports pre-game. It wasn’t shared with the public and sportsbooks. That’s what has been alleged by prosecutors.

Rozier was one of 34 people that included Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, former Kentucky football player Laster, and former player Damon Jones, who in October were charged in separate cases of alleged defrauding poker players in games linked to New York mafia families, as well as fraudulent betting on NBA games.

Motion to Dismiss

“This is not to say that sports betting platforms are without recourse when their terms of use are violated — they can void bets, pursue civil remedies, or seek state prosecutor involvement,” Trusty and Ifrah wrote in the motion. A past Supreme Court ruling (2023, United States v. Ciminelli) puts to rest the notion that federal prosecutors can enforce contractual agreements between bettors and platforms.

If the defence team is successful and the wire fraud charges are dismissed in Rozier’s case, then the money laundering goes away as well. Courts need that predicate offence to even consider the money laundering charge.

No Comment from Prosecutors

Rozier’s lawyers also emphasized that their client really was injured, and that the government’s indictment does not allege that Rozier personally wagered anything on an NBA game, nor does it allege Rozier knew that Laster intended to sell the information to gamblers.

According to media reports, federal prosecutors declined to comment on the motion to dismiss. Rozier is due back in court for a hearing on March 3. He’s on unpaid leave from the Heat.