NEW YORK — A defendant in the federal NBA gambling case told a judge today that he paid an NBA player to change his performance so he could bet on him. The player, a federal prosecutor later clarified, was former Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. Through his attorney, Rozier disputed the claim.The defendant, Marves Fairley, made the admission Thursday as he pleaded guilty to seven felony counts in two separate cases brought by the Department of Justice over the last year. Federal prosecutors say Fairley was one of the men who helped orchestrate the NBA insider betting case, which led to indictments for Rozier and Damon Jones, and the college basketball point-shaving scheme. The scheme led to the indictments of 25 men in January, including 20 current or former college basketball players.Fairley is now scheduled to be sentenced next February and faces up to 20 years in six of the seven counts he pleaded guilty to Thursday at a Brooklyn federal courthouse. The federal judge who presided over the hearing said Fairley could be sentenced consecutively and that federal sentencing guidelines indicate he could get between eight and 10 years in prison. He also agreed to pay $676,700 as part of his punishment.Fairley is the second defendant to plead guilty in the federal case focused on insider information traded in the NBA. Damon Jones, an 11-year NBA veteran, pleaded guilty last month. Fairley told the federal judge that he obtained non-public information about NBA players and games and bet on games, either by himself or with the help of others.He also said that he placed bets on “on behalf of players” so that they could profit as part of the conspiracy that federal prosecutors have described. But he said that he also sent money directly to at least one NBA player to ensure that he had the information and certainty he needed.“I agreed to pay a player to change their game performance,” Fairley said.While Fairley did not directly name the player, David Berman, a lawyer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, said in court that Rozier was the player Fairley had referenced.Rozier has pleaded not guilty to two federal wire fraud charges from the October 2025 indictment. He was accused of telling a friend that he would take himself out early from a March 23, 2023, game while he was still with the Charlotte Hornets. That friend, the indictment alleged, then sold that information to a betting group that included Fairley.Federal prosecutors said last month that Rozier would soon face a superseding indictment that alleged he solicited and accepted a bribe. That indictment was expected to be filed last week but has yet to hit the docket. Rozier has pleaded not guilty to the original charges.“There are some desperate men in this case with terrible criminal records and tons of exposure, and they know what to say to please these prosecutors,” Jim Trusty, Rozier’s attorney, said Thursday.Fairley also pleaded guilty to five counts related to the college basketball point-shaving ring uncovered by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in January. He admitted to paying NCAA players to change their performances, “so myself and others I was working with could win bets,” Fairley said in court. He admitted to betting on a February 2024 LaSalle-St. Bonaventure game, and putting money on St. Bonaventure to cover the first half spread because he had knowledge that the LaSalle players in that game would play poorly.He also admitted to paying a Chinese Basketball Association player so Fairley could win his bets on two Chinese basketball games in March 2023.