Former Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is facing a new charge in relation to his alleged gambling.
Federal prosecutors intend to accuse Rozier of soliciting and accepting a bribe, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. The indictment will essentially argue that Rozier accepted a bribe relating to sports betting, and that the NBA and the Charlotte Hornets were victims of that scheme.
Rozier’s attorney said he was informed of the new charges two hours before Monday’s hearing.
Rozier was initially accused of wire fraud for allegedly telling a friend he would leave a March 2023 game early. The friend then shared that information to allow gamblers to profit by betting on Rozier’s playing time. The new indictment may allege that Rozier essentially took a bribe to divulge that information and profit off it.
The claim that the NBA counts as a victim is an interesting one, since there were reports that the league worked with Rozier to sweep the incident under the rug when it initially happened.
Rozier is one of several high-profile figures indicted by federal prosecutors as part of an investigation into NBA-related gambling schemes. Another individual indicted in the scheme decided to plead guilty recently.
