Former University of Louisville basketball star among FBI arrests in gambling probe
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- FBI arrested 34 people in a gambling probe, including Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups.
- Indictment alleges defendants traded insider NBA information to place fraudulent bets.
- FBI cites tens of millions in theft, fraud and robbery; probe links organized crime.
An FBI probe into illegal sports betting with reported ties to the Mafia has resulted in the arrest of 34 people, including former University of Louisville basketball player Terry Rozier.
Rozier, now a guard with the Miami Heat, was arrested Thursday morning at a hotel in Orlando, Fla. According to reporting by ESPN, he’s accused of participating in an illegal sports betting scheme using private insider NBA information. Rozier was notably absent from the Heat’s season opener on Wednesday.
The indictment, as reported by ESPN, accuses Rozier and other defendants of having access to private information known by NBA players or coaches likely to affect the outcome of games or players’ performances.
Rozier and other people arrested in the probe are accused of sharing that information with co-conspirators for a fee or a cut of the profits. According to a New York Times report, the defendants knew when a player would be sitting out or leaving a game early, facilitating the setup of fraudulent bets.
The indictments unsealed Thursday also name Chauncey Billups, the Portland Trail Blazers coach and former Detroit Pistons star, who was arrested in Oregon.
Billups, just inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year, is accused of participating in a plot to rig illegal poker games set up by famous organized crime families, including the Bonano, Gambino, Lucchese and Genovese families. The families would take a cut of the profits and use force to go after debtors, the New York Times reports. Victims were cheated out of at least $7 million.
In a news conference Thursday, FBI director Kash Patel said the schemes involved tens of millions of dollars in theft, fraud and robbery, calling the scale of the fraud “mind-boggling,” according to the New York Times.
Joseph Nocella, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York said the investigations announced Thursday are not related to college basketball.
In a statement Thursday, the NBA said it was reviewing the indictments.
“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,” the league’s statement said.
Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, told ESPN in a statement that his client is “not a gambler” and “looks forward to winning this fight.”
It’s the latest in a string of gambling scandals that have rippled through the NBA as sports betting has become more widely legalized and socially acceptable. Last year, Jontay Porter was banned from the NBA after a league investigation found he broke its sports betting rules.
Rozier played at Louisville from 2013 to 2015. He averaged 17.2 points per game as a sophomore before declaring for the NBA Draft draft and being selected 16th overall by the Boston Celtics.
Rozier played four seasons with the Celtics before being traded to the Charlotte Hornets as part of a deal that brought All-Star Guard Kemba Walker to Boston.
In January 2023, the Hornets traded Rozier to the Miami Heat, where he’s played since.
The 31-year-old has averaged 13.9 points across 665 career regular season games. That includes a peak of 21.1 points per game for the Hornets in 2022-23.
Rozier is set to earn $24.9 million for the Heat this season, according to basketball-reference.com. Going into this season, he had earned more than $110 million in his career.
Brett Dawson of the Herald-Leader contributed to this story.
This story was originally published October 23, 2025 at 12:32 PM.