JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Six people are now charged, including two NBA players, with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy for their alleged roles in a sports betting scheme.
They are all accused of using inside information from NBA players and coaches to profit from illegal betting activity.
According to United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella, the six individuals used medical and private locker room information to gain wealth and cheat legitimate sportsbooks.
Among those in the gambling ring is 33-year-old Marves Fairley.
Fairley is a Mississippi entrepreneur based out of Jefferson Davis County who goes by the nicknames “Vez” or “Vezino Locks.”
According to Fairley’s Facebook page, he appears to be the owner of VL-Vezino Locks Sports Investments.
From what 3 On Your Side has gathered, back in 2020, Fairley was sentenced to one year in prison on a felon in possession of a firearm charge under the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project EJECT.
When it comes to the recent unsealed indictment, Fairley became involved when one defendant sold him information about an NBA player from the Miami Heat.
The unsealed indictment details how defendant Deniro Laster sold information about Terry Rozier’s plan to leave a March 23 game to multiple co-conspirators, including Fairley, to enable them to place fraudulent wagers based on the non-public information.
The indictment continues on to explain how, in exchange for the information, Fairley and a co-conspirator agreed to pay Laster approximately $100,000 from their expected fraudulent gambling winnings.
It also details how, prior to the March 23 game, Fairley, Laster, and a co-conspirator exchanged text messages confirming that Rozier planned to exit the game prematurely and agreeing on their plan to place the wagers - for example, that Rozier would underperform relative to the oddsmakers’ betting lines for his individual performance.
When it comes to the game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Chicago Bulls, the defendant Eric Earnest provided this non-public inside information to Fairley so he could place fraudulent wagers on the game and share the profits with Earnest.
In exchange, Fairley ultimately promised to pay Earnest at least $5,000 if the bets against the Trail Blazers were successful.
In addition, Fairley texted Earnest a screenshot of a purported $20,000 wire transfer from Fairley’s bank account to Earnest’s, accompanied by the message “Address for wire.”
After learning from Earnest that the Trail Blazers planned not to put their best players on the court in the March 24 game, Fairley conveyed that non-public information to a co-conspirator.
Fairley and a co-conspirator agreed to split the profits on successful wagers they could place against the Trail Blazers.
These are just some of the instances in the indictment where the defendants committed fraudulent sports betting activity.
As a result, Fairley and the others are all charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
All defendants are set to be arraigned at a later date in the Eastern District of New York.
To read the full indictment, click here.
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