Arguing that, just like the federal government, they will have to “prosecute” co-defendant DeNiro Laster at trial, former NBA player Terry Rozier’s lawyer and Laster’s lawyer Wednesday requested that Rozier’s and Laster’s trials be separated. The childhood friends, set to stand trial in an illegal sports betting case in February, are accused of sharing proprietary information with bettors.
The pair face four counts after a superseding indictment was filed in May. In that filing, Rozier is accused of accepting $100,000 to exit a March 23, 2023 NBA game early. Rozier and Laster were among 34 charged in an NBA game-fixing scandal and a rigged-poker scheme in October 2025. Several of those charged, including former NBA assistant coach Damon Jones, have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.
Rozier’s lawyer, David Oscar Markus, and Laster’s lawyer, M. Evan Corcoran, wrote that while prosecutors object to the request, it is the only way to ensure fair trials for both. The lawyers point to that single game in March 2023, when Rozier of the Charlotte Hornets left early with an ankle injury. In the letter, the lawyers wrote that prosecutors are arguing that Rozier left the game early so “others could bet on his ‘unders,'” that he shared this information with Laster who collected the winnings, and that the two met five days later at “Mr. Rozier’s home in Charlotte and counted [the money] with him.”
Per the letter, Rozier’s defense will be that he did not know about the bets, and that the NBA has provided medical records that “demonstrate conclusively” that Rozier was injured. In the game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Rozier went over his betting-line totals in some categories, causing some bets in question to lose. The lawyers wrote that Laster texted a co-conspirator on the day the money exchange took place, “Don’t tell chum about the bet.” “Chum,” they say, is a nickname for Rozier.
“Mr. Rozier’s lawyers cannot present this defense without effectively prosecuting Mr. Laster,” reads the letter. “This would force Mr. Laster’s lawyers into the untenable position of defending their client
on two fronts.”
The lawyers cite “Rule 14(a)” which “authorizes the Court to ‘sever the defendants’ trials’ when joinder ‘appears to prejudice a defendant.'” They also point to several previous cases in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in which judges have severed cases.
“Mr. Rozier’s counsel will … argue that Mr. Laster is guilty and will present evidence supporting that conclusion,” reads the letter. “Mr. Laster would face two prosecutors, and the jury would hear the case against him twice. That is the prejudice [other cases] describe, and it is why Mr. Laster joins this motion. Mr. Rozier joins it because he is entitled to present his defense in full, without a running series of objections and sidebars over how much of it a co-defendant at the same table can be made to
absorb.”
The lawyers wrote that prosecutors estimated a joint trial would last about three weeks and that they project that severed trials run back-to-back would last about the same amount of time. They proposed that Rozier’s case be heard first.
Two charged in NCAA case
ESPN’s David Purdum reported Wednesday that two defendants in an NCAA scandal were charged. Per the docket for Steven Vasquez, a former Fresno State and San Jose State basketball player, he and former DraftKings employee Matthew J. Martin are charged with committing a fraudulent act in a gaming establishment, conspiring to cheat at a gambling game, and money laundering. Vasquez’s preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 29.
The case also involves former Fresno State basketball player Mykell Robinson, who is not yet in custody. ESPN reported Vasquez and Martin pled not guilty, per their attorneys. Robinson played professional basketball in Ecuador in the spring.
Martin, Robinson, and Vasquez, along with Samuel Silverman, also a former DraftKings employee, allegedly set up a scheme in which Robinson altered his play so his three co-conspirators could bet the “under” on his performance. The NCAA in September 2025 permanently banned Robinson, Vasquez, and Fresno State’s Jalen Weaver, who the NCAA says also underperformed so co-conspirators could cash bets.
