NEW YORK (AP) — Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier ’s lawyers are asking a judge to throw out sports gambling charges that have kept him off the court this season, arguing that the government overreached by turning a private dispute over bettors’ use of nonpublic information into a federal case.
In a motion to dismiss made public on Tuesday, Rozier’s lawyers argued that the government’s theory of the case — that he prevented sportsbooks from making informed decisions about accepting certain bets — runs afoul of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that narrowed the federal wire fraud statute.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn allege that Rozier, 31, helped gamblers cash in by tipping off a friend that he would leave a March 2023 game early because of a supposed injury. The friend, Deniro “Niro” Laster, who is also charged, shared or sold the information to others, who placed more than $250,000 in prop bets, prosecutors said.
“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.’”
Rozier was on the Charlotte Hornets at the time and the information about his early exit was not listed on the team’s injury report, nor was it shared with the public or the sportsbooks that accept wagers on NBA games and player performances, prosecutors said.
Rozier pleaded not guilty on Dec. 8 to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy charges. He was released on $3 million bond and is due back in court for a hearing before U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall on March 3.
His charges were part of a sweep of more than 30 other people in a takedown of two sprawling gambling operations: one that authorities said leaked inside information about NBA athletes and another involving rigged, Mafia-backed poker games.
The charges have raised questions about the integrity of NBA games in an era of legalized betting and myriad prop bets, prompting the league to tweak its injury reporting requirements.
A spokesperson for the federal prosecutors’ office in Brooklyn declined to comment on Rozier’s motion.
In the motion, Rozier’s lawyers wrote that under the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in United States v. Ciminelli, prosecutors can’t make a wire fraud case out of allegations that defendants conspired to deprive a person — or, in this case, sportsbooks — of the right to information needed to make discretionary economic decisions.
They also questioned whether federal prosecutors have the authority to bring such a case, since sportsbooks are regulated at the state level, not the federal level.
“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, which was dated Dec. 12 but only posted to the case docket on Tuesday. “But Ciminelli puts to rest the notion that federal prosecutors are here to enforce contractual agreements between bettors and platforms.”
Rozier has earned about $160 million over a 10-year NBA career. He was a first-round pick for the Boston Celtics in 2015 after starring at the University of Louisville. Charlotte traded him to the Heat last year.
In the game in question, Rozier played the first nine minutes and 36 seconds against the New Orleans Pelicans before leaving, citing a foot issue. He did not play again that season.
Rozier’s lawyers noted that the indictment does not allege that he ever placed a bet on any NBA game, nor does it allege that he knew Laster intended to sell his tip to others or that using it to place wagers would violate the sportsbooks’ terms of service. And, they said, he really was injured.
“The government’s cynicism as to whether Mr. Rozier was injured is belied by a variety of witnesses and medical professionals who were aware of Rozier’s injury, in many cases before the Pelicans game,” Trusty and Ifrah wrote.