Sports betting influencer cops to NBA bribery charges

BROOKLYN (CN) — A Mississippi sports bettor and social media influencer pleaded guilty Thursday in the sweeping federal gambling case charging dozens of NBA players and high-stakes gamblers with a yearslong scheme to fix games across the globe.

Marves “Vez” Fairley, a 40-year-old sports betting influencer who goes by “Vezino Locks” on Instagram, is accused in a pair of indictments of cashing in on insider information from players to place fraudulent bets on games in the U.S. and in China.

In court Thursday, he admitted to seven counts total, including bribery, wire fraud and money laundering.

Fairley, who wore a forest green mock turtleneck sweater, told the judge he paid players to change their performance so he could place bets for himself and bet on behalf of at least one player: former Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, who’s charged in the federal criminal case in Brooklyn.

According to prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York indictment, Fairley paid Rozier’s childhood friend Deniro Laster $100,000 in March 2023 in exchange for a tip that Rozier, who was on the Charlotte Hornets at the time, was going to leave a game against the New Orleans Pelicans in the first quarter.

“I agreed to pay a player to change their game performance to give me an advantage on bets I placed for myself and others,” Fairley told U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Marutollo.

Fairley admitted he worked with “other people” to obtain non-public information and used it in bets. “I also placed bets on behalf of players” who provided inside information, he said.

Hours after the plea, prosecutors hit Rozier with two additional counts, bribery in sporting contests and honest services wire fraud conspiracy, related to the Hornets-Pelicans game. The feds say Rozier suffered a lower leg injury in a previous game but continued to play, then later used the injury as the basis for his early exit, allowing co-conspirators to bet on the information before it became public.

The government claims Rozier also agreed to give Laster a portion of the bribe.

Rozier’s player contract, the government notes, required players to “refrain from gambling on NBA games, point shaving or other attempts to fix the score or outcome of an NBA game, or providing confidential team or league information to individuals involved in gambling.”

In the superseding indictment, the government says not all bets against Rozier were successful since the player still collected four rebounds, “and thus went over his betting line.”

“As a result, following the game, Rozier and his co-conspirators negotiated to reduce Rozier’s bribe to approximately $70,000,” the government says.

International claims

At his plea hearing Thursday, in addition to the Rozier-related charges, Fairley also admitted he paid NCAA players and professional basketball players within the Chinese Basketball Association “to change their performance in games so myself and others could place bets.” That part of his allocution stems from bribery and wire fraud charges originally brought in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania but transferred in April to the Eastern District of New York.

In February 2024, for instance, Fairley said he placed bets “based on information I received from others that players from La Salle University were going to intentionally perform poorly” in a game against St. Bonaventure.

Eric Siegle of the firm Siegle & Sims represents Fairley. He declined to comment following the hearing.

Fairley is set to be sentenced in February 2027. The wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years. Bribery in sporting contests carries a five-year maximum sentence.

Marutollo indicated Fairley will have to pay $676,700 in forfeiture, in addition to mandatory restitution.

Awaiting sentencing, Fairley will remain out on a $200,000 bond secured by his wife, his church pastor and the superintendent of schools in Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi, where he lives.

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