NBA player Terry Rozier hit with new bribery charges in sports gambling sting

Federal prosecutors have indicted ex-Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier on additional charges in connection with a sports gambling sting, alleging he took a hefty bribe to exit a game early in March 2023.

Rozier, 32, was charged Thursday in a superseding indictment in Brooklyn federal court with bribery in sporting contests and honest services wire fraud conspiracy. Superseding indictments are used when prosecutors want to change or add new charges to an existing criminal case.

Rozier has denied participating in the gambling scheme, and has been fighting to have the case dismissed after pleading not guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy charges in December. His attorneys argue in part 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.

The new indictment "just confirms that our motion to dismiss was righteous — new charges, new theories, but all just an effort to make something stick,” Rozier's attorney, Jim Trusty, wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

Rozier was arrested in October along with former NBA player Damon Jones, who pleaded guilty last month for his role in schemes to defraud major sportsbooks including DraftKings and FanDuel. Others charged in the case include sports bettor and influencer Marves Fairley, who pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy, bribery and other federal charges in connection with gambling schemes targeting basketball games in the U.S. and China.

Rozier remains free on $3 million bond. The case has kept him off the court this season.

The new indictment alleges that Rozier not only defrauded sportsbooks, but also the NBA and the team he was playing for at the time, the Charlotte Hornets.

Rozier is accused of conspiring with gamblers to leave a game early, citing a lingering lower leg injury, so they could cash in on more than $250,000 in bets that his points, assists and other totals would be lower than what the sportsbooks had set as betting lines.

Not all of the bets were successful because Rozier collected four rebounds, which was more than the betting line, the superseding indictment said. As a result, after the game, Rozier and his co-conspirators negotiated a discount on his bribe, cutting it from $100,000 to about $70,000, the superseding indictment said.

The new indictment against Rozier was filed within hours of the guilty pleas by Fairley, who goes by the name “Vezino Locks" on Instagram. As part of his plea, Fairley admitted to prosecutors’ allegations that he used insider information to get an edge when betting on NBA, NCAA and Chinese Professional Basketball League games — including paying Rozier’s longtime friend $100,000 in exchange for a tip that Rozier was going to leave a game early.”

Fairley's attorney Eric Siegle said his client “deeply regrets and is ashamed of his conduct.”

FILE - Miami Heat's Terry Rozier arrives at Brooklyn federal court, April 27, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military has stopped another merchant vessel trying to break through the American blockade of Iranian ports, a U.S. official with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Saturday.

The Gambia-flagged bulk carrier Lian Star ignored multiple warnings from U.S. forces overnight as it tried to enter an Iranian port, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, said. The ship was disabled by U.S. aircraft in the Gulf of Oman and remains adrift there, the official said, adding that U.S. forces have not boarded it.

With the latest action, U.S. military has stopped six ships trying to breach the blockade. One was allowed to proceed.

The U.S. launched the blockade on April 17 in response to Iran effectively closing the strait after the war began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28. A fragile ceasefire has held since April 7. Now the region and wider world await word on whether a deal is being reached to extend it by 60 days while new talks would be held on Iran’s disputed nuclear program.

Events in the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman have shaken the global economy, with shipments of significant amounts of oil, natural gas and related supplies like fertilizer largely stranded, increasing the strain on consumers and food producers.

The U.S. blockade seeks to limit Iran’s own shipments and further weaken its access to cash, creating more pain for its long-weakened economy.

U.S. President Donald Trump met with advisers on Friday but has yet to decide on whether to move ahead with a deal to extend the ceasefire and reopen the strait. Iran has said the deal had not been finalized.

Commercial traffic has quietly continued to flow through the strait, despite Iran's assertions that it must approve any transits, though at a much lower volume than before the conflict.

“Any violation of these regulations will place the security of their passage at serious risk,” Iran's joint military command said Saturday in a statement carried by state TV, warning that any military vessels trying to interfere with that would be targeted.

Iran has even charged tolls for transit as high as $2 million, which experts have called a violation of a principle of international maritime trade: freedom of peaceful navigation.

Qatar's deputy prime minister, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan bin Ali Al Thani, on Saturday said the Gulf nation opposes charging fees to transit, “but for certain times when they say they are going to use it for mine clearing or some usage of the fees for a temporary time, this is something that is negotiable, and it could be something that will help the transit of the Strait of Hormuz to be back to normal stage.”

The U.S. official previously told the AP that the U.S. has not found or destroyed any mines in the strait.

Pro-government Iranian demonstrators wave Iranian flags and a portrait of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, and his slain father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a gathering at a square in Tehran, Iran, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)