U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr., from the Eastern District of New York, stated, “This scheme is an insider sports betting conspiracy that exploited confidential information about National Basketball Association athletes and teams.”
Rozier, who joined the Miami Heat in early 2024, allegedly provided information to bettors about team rosters and player injuries and even faked an injury during a March 2023 game to manipulate betting outcomes. Meanwhile, Damon Jones is accused of placing bets based on non-public team information, often using casinos and online sportsbooks to hide the scale of the operation.
“The non-public information included when specific players would be sitting out or pulling themselves early for purported injuries,” Nocella Jr. explained. “Most of these guys succeeded, and the intended losses were in the millions of dollars.”
A Second Sports Gambling Operation Tied to the Mafia
The second indictment involves an extensive Sports Gambling Operation linked to illegal poker games held across New York, Miami, Las Vegas, and the Hamptons. Prosecutors say the games were fixed using “high-tech cheating technology” and that profits were funneled through the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese crime families of La Cosa Nostra.
