NBA athlete Terry Rozier will reportedly face additional charges connected to an alleged gambling scheme, specifically concerning the solicitation and acceptance of bribes. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaitlin Farrell informed the court on Monday that the government has gathered evidence indicating Mr. Rozier accepted a bribe, and prosecutors intend to present these new charges to a grand jury.
The anticipated filing of these charges is scheduled for mid-May. The scheme allegedly involves sports bribery and honest service fraud, with the NBA listed as the victim.
Jim Trusty, an attorney for Rozier and partner at Ifrah Law, stated that he was made aware of the potential for superseding charges by prosecutors just two hours before Monday's court session.
Rozier is currently facing two federal wire fraud charges. He was initially arrested and indicted in October for his alleged involvement in a sports betting operation, where he reportedly informed Deniro Laster that he would leave a Charlotte Hornets game early in March 2023.
It is alleged that Laster then used this information to solicit bets from sports bettors.
Monday's court proceedings were slated to address a motion to dismiss Rozier's original charges. However, the prospect of new indictments became the central focus, and the judge deferred ruling on the dismissal motion.
"Our motion to dismiss is based on the idea that they picked an invalid legal theory to prosecute Terry Rozier," Trusty commented to ESPN. "We’ll see what they do to try to fix that in the superseding indictment, but I expect we’ll have problems with it."
Federal prosecutors charged seven individuals last October in connection with the alleged scheme.
Among those charged was Damon Jones, a former NBA player and assistant coach. Jones is expected to plead guilty to charges related to the case on Tuesday before a federal judge.
Jones is also set to plead guilty to charges associated with a separate matter involving a rigged poker game that included former Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups.
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