It's been a week since Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups were indicted in a sweeping federal gambling investigation, and now Rozier's attorney is going on the offensive.
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Appearing on Fox News Tuesday, lawyer Jim Trusty called his client "an innocent guy who's getting completely screwed." As relayed by The Miami Herald, Trusty said prosecutors are unfairly targeting an 11-year veteran "who played 1,000 games" and was already cleared by the NBA two years ago.
Trusty acknowledged that Rozier told co-defendant De'Niro Laster about his plan to exit a March 2023 game with a foot injury, but insisted there was no intent to profit.
"Confiding in a childhood friend and saying, 'Man, I'm banged up, it's the end of the season, we're out of the playoffs,' that's not a crime," he said. "Maybe the league should make rules about who you can tell, but what that friend did after is not on Terry."
Trusty also claimed Rozier didn't fake the injury and questioned the government's approach to the case.
"I'm concerned they might have crawled into bed with some horrific people to get cooperation," he said. "They're making deals with the devil to work their way down, instead of the opposite."
The attorney plans to challenge whether prosecutors can prove Rozier's intent beyond a reasonable doubt.
For now, though, it's clear he's positioning Rozier as a scapegoat caught in a much larger scandal that continues to rattle the sports world.
