Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier pleads not guilty to sports betting charges

NEW YORK (AP) — Miami Heat player Terry Rozier pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he helped gamblers placing bets on his performance in NBA games.

The 31-year-old point guard formally entered the plea during his arraignment in federal court in Brooklyn on wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges, and was released on $3 million bond secured by his home in Florida and another property. Prosecutors say Rozier conspired with friends to help them win bets on his performance in a March 2023 game when he played for the Charlotte Hornets.

He was also instructed not to gamble, have firearms or to have any contact with victims, co-defendants and witnesses in the case. Rozier, who's from Ohio, additionally surrendered his passport and was restricted to traveling between Florida, Ohio and New York unless granted prior approval.

Rozier, wearing a gray suit, didn’t speak in court other than to answer the judge’s “yes” or “no” questions.

He declined to comment afterward, but his lawyer, Jim Trusty, said his client was “excited” to begin mounting his defense against the charges.

Trusty said at a hearing later with the five other defendants in the case that he would soon be filing a motion to dismiss the case based on constitutional grounds.

He also urged the judge to proceed with the case on “speedy” timeline, saying Rozier is dealing with “multiple layers of litigation,” including arbitration with the NBA.

But U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall brushed those concerns aside, saying “arbitration with the league is of no concern for me.”

She set the next hearing in the case for March 3 after hearing from prosecutors that they would soon be handling over “voluminous” amounts of evidence to defense lawyers, including an initial set of 1,000 documents and more than 55 gigabytes of data.

More than 30 people have been arrested in the sprawling federal takedown of illegal gambling operations linked to professional sports, including several Mafia figures. Portland Trail Blazers coach and NBA Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups has pleaded not guilty in a separate scheme to fix high-stakes, Mafia-backed illegal poker games.

Prosecutors say Rozier informed the bettors that he intended to leave the game against the New Orleans Pelicans early with a supposed injury, allowing gamblers to place wagers earning them tens of thousands of dollars.

Rozier played the first nine minutes and 36 seconds of the game before leaving, citing a foot issue. He did not play again that season.

The other NBA figure ensnared in the investigation is Damon Jones, who pleaded not guilty last month to charges he provided sports bettors with nonpublic information about injuries to stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis while serving as an unofficial assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-2023 season. Jones, a former NBA player, is also indicted along with Billups and others in the separate poker scheme.

Both Billups and Rozier have been placed on unpaid leave from their teams as their court cases play out.

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.

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Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones leaves Brooklyn federal court, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Miami Heat's Terry Rozier arrives at Brooklyn federal court, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Miami Heat's Terry Rozier arrives at Brooklyn federal court, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Miami Heat's Terry Rozier arrives at Brooklyn federal court, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier leaves the U.S. Federal Courthouse through a side door after his arraignment, Oct. 23, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

FILE - Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier (2) looks on during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, March 31, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A joint Iranian military command said on Wednesday that banks and financial institutions are now a target in the Middle East.

The Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters issued a statement identifying the targets.

It came after Iranian media reported staff at a bank in Tehran had been killed in Israeli-American airstrikes.

The threat would put at risk particularly Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, which is home to many international financial institutions, as well as Saudi Arabia and the island kingdom of Bahrain.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel and Iran exchanged fire early Wednesday, with Tehran keeping up pressure on the region's oil industry, targeting infrastructure and ships as global energy concerns mounted and the war in the Middle East showed no signs of abating.

Two Iranian drones hit near Dubai International Airport, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates, and the world’s busiest for international travel. Four people were wounded but flights continued, the Dubai Media Office said.

Early Wednesday, a projectile hit a container ship off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz, setting it ablaze and forcing the crew to abandon the vessel, the British military said. Kuwait said its defenses downed eight Iranian drones and Saudi Arabia said it intercepted five drones heading toward the kingdom’s Shaybah oil field.

Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic in the narrow strait through which about a fifth of all oil is shipped from the Persian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean. It has also targeted oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations, aiming at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to end their strikes.

The U.N. Security Council was to vote later Wednesday on a resolution sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council demanding Iran stop attacking its Arab neighbors.

Israel said it renewed attacks on Tehran, Iran's capital, following multiple strikes Tuesday that residents described as some of the heaviest during the war. Explosions were also heard in Beirut and in southern Lebanon after Israel said it was hitting targets connected to the Iran-linked militant Hezbollah group.

The attacks set a building ablaze in central Beirut's densely populated Aicha Bakkar area, engulfing the top two floors. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

An earlier Israeli strike killed five people in the Nabatieh district in southern Lebanon, while two more were killed in strikes in the Tyre and Bint Jbeil districts, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. A Red Cross worker also died Wednesday of wounds sustained Monday, when his team was hit by an Israeli strike while they were rescuing people from an earlier attack.

Nearly 500 people have been killed so far in Lebanon since Hezbollah triggered the latest round of fighting with Israel after the American and Israeli attacks on Iran started.

Israel warned of three Iranian attacks early Wednesday, with sirens heard in Tel Aviv and elsewhere but no immediate reports of casualties.

In addition to Iranian attacks targeting Saudi Arabia's oil fields, the kingdom's defense ministry said it had destroyed six ballistic missiles launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base, a major U.S.- and Saudi-operated air facility in eastern Saudi Arabia. The ministry also said it intercepted and destroyed two drones over the eastern city of Hafar al-Batin.

In the Strait of Hormuz north of Oman, a cargo ship was hit with a projectile and set on fire, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, run by the British military.

Iran did not immediately claim the attack though it has been targeting ships in and around the strait.

The UKMTO earlier reported on another attack targeting a container ship off Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. In that case, it said the “extent of the damage is currently unknown but under investigation by the crew.”

Another ship came under attack in the Persian Gulf, the monitoring group said. The crew was reported safe after it was hit by a projectile.

The United Arab Emirates said early Wednesday that its air defenses were working to intercept incoming Iranian fire. The wealthy nation — home to the business and travel hub of Dubai — said Iranian attacks have killed six people and wounded 122 others there.

Bahrain sounded sirens early Wednesday, warning of an incoming Iranian attack. The warnings came a day after an Iranian attack hit a residential building in the capital, Manama, and killed a 29-year-old woman and wounding eight people.

At the United Nations, the Security Council was to vote Wednesday afternoon on the Gulf Cooperation Council resolution, according to three diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement.

The council, a six-nation regional bloc, said its own facilities were targeted in an Iranian attack last week on Bahrain.

The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, condemns Iran’s attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. The measure calls for an immediate end to all strikes and threats against neighboring states, including through proxies.

It would be the first Security Council resolution considered since the start of the war.

Oil prices remained well below the peaks Monday but the price of Brent crude, the international standard, was still up some 20% Wednesday from when the war began, and consumers around the world are already feeling the pain at the pump.

The spike in oil prices has been rocking financial markets worldwide because of worries that the war could block the global flow of oil and natural gas for a long time.

The U.S. military said Tuesday it had destroyed 16 Iranian minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz, though U.S. President Donald Trump said in social media posts that there were no reports yet of Iran mining the passage, a prospect that experts warned of preceding the war.

If the strait is mined, it could take at least weeks to clean it up once the conflict is over.

Some tankers, believed linked to Iran, are continuing to get through the strait making so-called “dark” transits -- meaning they aren’t turning on their Automatic Identification System tracks, which show where vessels are. Vessels carrying sanctioned Iranian crude often turn off their AIS trackers.

The security firm Neptune P2P Group said Wednesday there had been seven ships pass through the strait since March 8. Of them, five were linked to Iranian-associated shipping, it said. In ordinary times the strait typically sees 100 ships or more transit daily from the Persian Gulf into the Gulf of Oman.

Meanwhile, the commodity-tracking firm Kpler said Iran has restarted crude exports through its Jask oil terminal on the Gulf of Oman. A tanker loaded roughly 2 million barrels at Jask on March 7, it said.

Meanwhile, concerns grew over the health of Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei after comments about him “being injured.”

The 56-year-old Khamenei — the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — has not been seen since since becoming supreme leader on Monday. His father and wife both were killed in an Israeli airstrike Feb. 28 that started the war.

In addition to the nearly 500 people killed in Lebanon, Iran has said more than 1,300 people have been killed there and Israel has reported 12 people dead.

The U.S. has lost seven soldiers while another eight have suffered severe injuries.

Many foreign nationals have been getting out of the Persian Gulf region since the war began, including over 45,000 U.K. citizens, the British Foreign Office said. Some 40,000 people returned to the United States, according to the State Department.

Magdy reported from Cairo, and Rising from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Sally Abou AIJoud in Beirut, Giovanna Dell’Orto in Miami, Julie Watson in San Diego, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this story.

People take shelter in an underground metro station as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian missile strike, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A man passes in front of a destroyed building that housed a branch of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a non-bank financial institution run by Hezbollah, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People walk past closed shops at the nearly empty traditional main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Motorbikes drive past a billboard depicting Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, handing the country’s flag to his son and successor Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, as the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini stands at left, in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)