Former Miami Heat player Terry Rozier posed with guns on social media as part of a "crew" with his childhood friends, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn alleged in a filing in his NBA game-rigging case.
The feds brought up Rozier's affiliation with a group called "GMB" in a letter seeking to keep his alleged accomplice and childhood pal Deniro Laster locked up for the duration of the sports-betting case because of Laster's alleged attempts to tamper with witnesses.
"Numerous witnesses have indicated, and social media records corroborate, that Deniro Laster, Rozier and certain of their childhood friends belong to a crew they call 'GMB,' " Assistant U.S. Attorney David Berman wrote Tuesday. "Members of GMB, including Deniro Laster and Rozier, have publicly held themselves out as having access to guns, including by posting photographs on social media depicting Laster, Rozier, and other members of GMB posing with guns prior to the government bringing charges in this case."
Rozier's lawyer, David Markus, said that GMB isn't a crew at all — it's a reference to the former hoops star's charitable foundation.
"GMB stands for 'Get More Blessings,' and it is the motto of Terry Rozier's Foundation, 12 Blessings, a nonprofit that raises money to empower disadvantaged kids," Markus said. "The nickname started with Terry's high school basketball team. The government's attempt to imply that it was some sort of criminal organization is absurd. Terry has never been charged with any firearms offense or with intimidating a witness, and nothing in this filing alleges that he did either. It is nothing more than a dog whistle and a desperate attempt by the government to taint Terry because it sees its case is falling apart."
He added, "GMB stands for Get More Blessings. In this case, GMB stands for Government's Massive Blunder."
Rozier and Laster have been accused of taking part in a conspiracy to rig NBA games, including a Charlotte Hornets game on March 23, 2023, when Rozier let Laster know he'd be leaving the game early because of a purported injury.
Rozier's legal team argued last week that the sports bribery and honest services wire fraud conspiracy charges be dismissed, pointing to a March 29, 2023, text from Laster to a third party that read, "Dont tell chum bout the bet." Chum is Rozier's nickname.
"This should end the case. One does not hide a bet from the person who supposedly sold it," his lawyers wrote.
Federal prosecutors countered, "The government's investigation has developed evidence from multiple sources that this text chain does not relate to sports gambling."
As for Laster, he's accused of keeping in touch with his co-defendants in the case despite a court order not to, including one instance in December when he called one of them to suggest they'd be in a good spot if none of them cooperated with the feds.
An Instagram account with ties to Laster posted a rat emoji the feds believe was meant to intimidate witnesses in the case, according to Berman's filing. Prosecutors tied that comment to another one, also with a rat emoji, from months earlier, posted by an Instagram account that used the photo of a dead GMB member.
"Using the image of a deceased member of GMB to call someone a rat appears to be calculated to intimidate and imply the threat of violence," Berman wrote.
Laster's lawyer did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
He's scheduled to have a status conference in Brooklyn Federal Court on Tuesday.
