There are new developments in the federal insider gambling case involving the NBA veteran Terry Rozier, with a judge now accusing one of the defendants of trying to obstruct justice and tamper with witnesses. The case is one of several gambling-related legal battles that have put a spotlight on the integrity of American professional sports, and the latest twist has seen one of those charged taken off the street and placed behind bars while proceedings continue.
The defendant at the center of the new allegations is De Niro Laster, described as a childhood friend of Rozier. According to the reporting, Laster is being held in custody after the judge probed claims that he had engaged in witness tampering. The move marks a significant escalation in the case, as prosecutors argue that his conduct went beyond the original charges and amounted to an attempt to interfere with the course of the investigation.
The tampering claims rest on two separate allegations. In the first, prosecutors say Laster contacted one of his co-defendants in the case and urged that person not to cooperate with prosecutors, an act that authorities view as a direct effort to weaken the government's case. Pressuring a fellow defendant to stay silent is treated as a serious offense in the federal system, and it formed a central part of the judge's concerns.
The second allegation is more unusual. Prosecutors say Laster contacted one of the witnesses in the case and sent them a rat emoji, which they characterized as a veiled threat, with the word rat commonly used as slang for an informant. His lawyers pushed back on that interpretation, describing the image as merely a rat cartoon and downplaying any suggestion that it was meant to influence the witness's testimony in the proceedings.
The judge was not persuaded by the defense's explanation. According to the account of the hearing, the judge was totally unconvinced by the argument and, in a striking moment, accused Laster's lawyer of mansplaining in court. Rather than accept the characterization of the message as harmless, the judge treated the conduct as a genuine attempt to intimidate a witness, setting the stage for a swift and consequential decision on his detention.
As a result, Laster's bail was revoked and he was ordered into custody. He is currently being held at the MDC, the federal detention center in Brooklyn, where he will remain as the case moves forward. The decision underscores how seriously the court is treating any effort to obstruct the proceedings, and it removes one of the defendants from the community while the broader gambling case is litigated.
The Rozier matter is unfolding alongside other high-profile prosecutions tied to betting in the NBA. Back in June, the former Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley was charged in Brooklyn with conspiracy and bribery related to point shaving and insider prop bet manipulation, and he has pleaded not guilty. Together, the cases reflect a widening federal focus on gambling in American sports, as authorities examine allegations that players and their associates sought to profit from inside information.
