Rozier is accused of participating in an illegal sports betting scheme using private insider NBA information, officials said.
The authorities said Billups, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year, is charged in a separate indictment alleging a wide-ranging scheme to rig underground poker games that were backed by Mafia families.
The indictments are related to two major cases, one involving sports betting and the second involving rigged poker games, US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said at a news conference with FBI Director Kash Patel.
In the first case, Nocella said six defendants are accused of participating in an insider sports betting conspiracy that exploited confidential information about NBA athletes and teams.
He called it “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.”
The second case involves 31 defendants in a nationwide scheme to rig illegal poker games, Nocella said.
The defendants include former professional athletes accused of using technology to steal millions of dollars from victims in underground poker games in the New York area that were backed by Mafia families, he said.
In the sports betting scheme, players sometimes altered their performance or took themselves out of games early, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
In one instance, Rozier, while playing for the Hornets, told others he was planning to leave the game early with a “supposed injury,” allowing others to place wagers that raked in thousands of dollars, Tisch said.
The indictment of Rozier and others says there are nine unnamed co-conspirators including a Florida resident who was an NBA player, an Oregon resident who was an NBA player from about 1997 to 2014, and an NBA coach since at least 2021, as well as a relative of Rozier.
Rozier and other defendants “had access to private information known by NBA players or NBA coaches” that was likely to affect the outcome of games or players’ performances and provided that information to other co-conspirators in exchange for either a flat fee or a share of betting profits, the indictment says.
The NBA had no immediate comment. The league has investigated Rozier previously and still is looking into the actions of former Detroit player Malik Beasley, one of the sources told the AP.
Rozier was in uniform as the Heat played the Magic in Orlando, Florida, in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday evening, though he did not play in the game. He was taken into custody in Orlando early Thursday morning. The team didn’t immediately comment on the arrest.
A message seeking comment was left with Billups on Thursday morning. (AP)
