The sporting world was stunned Thursday when news broke that the FBI was charging Heat guard Terry Rozier and Trail Blazer head coach Chauncey Billups as part of a sweeping and “historic” federal gambling and rigged poker investigation that also implicates the Bonanno, Genovese, Lucchese and Gambino families.
Rozier, a 31-year-old NBA veteran from Youngstown, Ohio, is accused of tipping off the wise guys that he was going to leave a 2023 game early with an injury, which led to the defendants plunking down more than $200,000 on the Unders for his prop bets that night.
The FBI pointed to a game on March 23, 2023, while Rozier was a member of the Charlotte Hornets.
Rozier was part of Charlotte’s starting lineup at the time, but he exited a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans after just nine minutes and 34 seconds.
The Louisville alum scored five points, nabbed four rebounds, tallied two assists and notched one steal in limited action before exiting with a foot injury.
Rozier ultimately sat out the remaining eight games of the season.
The documents released by the FBI allege that bets on Rozier’s Unders returned tens of thousands of dollars in profit, and that “the defendants and Rozier counted the money at his house.”
Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, criticized his client’s handling.
The NBA previously investigated these allegations and did not charge Rozier with any violation.
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“A long time ago we reached out to these prosecutors to tell them we should have an 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,” Trusty said to The Post on Thursday.
“It is unfortunate that instead of allowing him to self-surrender they opted for a photo op. 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.”
The FBI has arrested 31 people involved in a rigged poker game ring backed by the New York City organized crime families.
- Ernest Aiello — reputed Bonanno mobster
- Nelson Alvarez
- Louis Apicella
- Ammar Awawdeh
- Saul Becher — professional poker player
- Chauncey Billups — Portland Trail Blazers coach, NBA Hall of Famer and 2004 NBA champion
- Matthew Daddino
- Eric Earnest
- Lee Fama — professional poker player
- John Gallo
- Marco Garzon
- Thomas Gelardo — aka “Tommy Juice,” reputed Lucchese mobster charged in 2013 for beating porn star girlfriend
- Jamie Gilet
- Tony Goodson
- Kenny Han
- Shane Henne
- Osman Hoti
- Horatio Hu
- Zhen Hu
- Damon Jones — NBA player from 1998 to 2009
- Joseph Lanni
- John Mazzola
- Curtis Meeks
- Nicholas Minucci
- Michael Renzulli
- Anthony Ruggiero Jr.
- Anthony Shnayderman
- Robert Stroud
- Seth Trustman
- Sophia Wei
- Julius Ziliani
The NBA announced Thursday that both Rozier and Billups has been placed on leave.
“We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today,” the league said in its statement. “Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities. We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”
Rozier, who is known by the moniker “Scary Terry” in NBA circles, is a 10-year NBA vet who was picked No. 16 overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2015 NBA draft after starring for Louisville.
He played for Boston from 2015-19 before being traded to the Hornets for the 2019-20 season.
The Hornets then sent him to the Heat during the 2023-24 season, and he has played for Miami since.
He’s in the final season of his four-year, $96.3 million contract, and did not play in the Heat’s season-opening loss in Orlando on Wednesday.
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