The attorney representing Miami Heat player Terry Rozier accused the FBI of seeking "misplaced glory" after the NBA player was arrested Thursday as part of a widespread investigation into an alleged illegal sports betting operation.
Rozier, who was immediately placed on leave by the NBA following the indictments, was among more than 30 individuals arrested in two FBI probes into illegal sports betting and alleged rigged poker games with suspected links to New York-based crime families.
Rozier was not named in the second indictment.
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The NBA player appeared in court on Thursday and faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. An attorney for Rozier released a statement saying his client "is not a gambler" and was previously cleared by the NBA. He also took aim at the FBI for not allowing Rozier to "self-surrender" despite an apparent open line of communication.
"They characterized Terry as a subject, not a target, but at 6 a.m. this morning, they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel. It is unfortunate that instead of allowing him to self-surrender, they opted for a photo op," attorney Jim Trusty said in a statement, via The Athletic.
"They wanted the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk. That tells you a lot about the motivations in this case. They appear to be taking the word of spectacularly incredible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing."
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Rozier is accused of purposely exiting a 2023 game early, citing an injury so co-conspirators could allegedly place wagers on his "under" prop bets. It was initially reported in January that Rozier was being investigated for involvement in a game on March 23, 2023.
Rozier is alleged to have told a childhood friend, Deniro Laster, that he would take himself out of a game early, citing an injury so Laster could place wagers based on the information. Neither Hornets officials nor betting companies were made aware of Rozier's plan, according to the indictment, and Rozier was not listed on the team's injury report.
Laster then allegedly sold that information to other co-conspirators, and numerous people placed wagers totaling roughly $200,000 on Rozier's "under" prop bets to hit in both parlay and straight wagers. After Rozier played just nine minutes and never returned, the bets won. Rozier and Laster counted cash winnings at Rozier's home in Charlotte roughly a week later, the indictment says.
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Trusty doubled down on his statement outside court on Thursday, saying the initial investigation cleared Rozier of wrongdoing.
"What I can tell you is there's a lot of people that are very close-lipped about what happened in 2023. But what I was told is there was an investigation. They interviewed him twice. They took his phone, downloaded everything, and, at the end of the day, they said there's nothing to see here and cleared him."
Trusty said "FBI agents" were a part of that investigation, which he described as the "real deal."
"They looked at the same stuff. and they said there's nothing here, but you know, we got a trophy hunt, so we're gonna fight it."
Fox News Digital's Ryan Morik and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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