A Mississippian is wrapped up in a major federal criminal investigation into professional basketball games being rigged.
Marves Fairley, a Bassfield native, was listed among five others, including two former pro basketball players and a former college football player, in an unsealed indictment for his alleged role in a wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy case linked to NBA matchups being fixed.
The defendants, including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones, along with former Kentucky football player De’Niro Laster, are accused of aiding in the obtaining and misusing non-public information about upcoming NBA games to place fraudulent sports bets for profit and then laundering the proceeds between December 2022 and March 2024. Eric Ernest and Shane Henen are also facing charges in this case. Jones was a staffer with the Los Angeles Lakers at the time of the alleged crimes.
According to law enforcement officials, the defendants obtained insider information from several NBA players and coaches, including Rozier and Jones, and distributed that information through a network of bettors. These bettors placed wagers through online sportsbooks and retail betting outlets, falsely representing that their bets were legitimate while concealing that they had confidential team information.
“Today, the FBI arrested six people, including current and former NBA players, for their alleged role in illegal sports betting and money laundering conspiracy – the result of a sweeping investigation conducted by outstanding FBI professionals and partners,” FBI Director Kash Patel said on Thursday.
“Using private information and positions of power to rig sports gambling outcomes is not only illegal, but destroys the integrity of the game and will never be tolerated,” he continued. “We will continue following the money to ensure gambling operations of all kinds stay within the law and bring to justice those who take advantage of innocent victims.”
Fairley, according to the indictment, represented himself on social media as a successful sports bettor and sold sports betting picks through his Instagram profiles. He is said to have used his connections to some of the defendants, as well as actual players whose names were not listed in the court filing, to acquire confidential information to sell his picks to prospective gamblers.
The Mississippian, on multiple occasions, allegedly had prior knowledge that a player, one reportedly being Rozier, would sabotage his stats to satisfy certain bets. Fairley is also said to have been affiliated with a team actively tanking a game and withholding its best player, without first notifying the public. Fairley’s alleged actions can be viewed in full in the indictment below:
Joining the FBI director in announcing the charges against the named defendants in this case were United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office Christopher G. Raia, and New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch.
The defendants, who are located across the country, will be arraigned at a future date in the Eastern District of New York.
