First prison sentence handed out in NBA betting scandal involving Terry Rozier and Jontay Porter
The first conspirator in the wide-ranging gambling and match-fixing scheme which allegedly involved NBA players Terry Rozier and Jontay Porter has been sentenced to serve prison time.
Timothy McCormack, a self-proclaimed gambling addict, was handed a two-year sentence by a federal judge in Brooklyn.
McCormack pled guilty to defrauding sports betting platforms by using nonpublic information to place very successful wagers tied to the play of NBA players who were allegedly in on the scheme.
‘I’ve struggled with a gambling addiction for more than half my life,’ McCormack said during his sentencing.
The two-year sentence is less then the four-year sentence prosecutors were seeking. Meanwhile, the defense was hoping McCormack’s punishment would not include prison time.
‘He has an addiction,’ Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall said. ‘I don’t believe the conduct Mr. McCormack engaged in defines him.’
One of the co-conspirators in the match-fixing scheme involving Jontay Porter has pled guilty
The scheme as radically expanded in October with the alleged involvement of Terry Rozier
However, the judge also concurred with the government’s position that McCormack undermined integrity in sports.
‘There is no question this is a serious crime,’ DeArcy Hall said. ‘Sports matters to me as an individual, as it should to society.’
David Berman, a lawyer prosecuted McCormack, admitted the defendant was ‘not as culpable as some of his co-conspirators’ – but that didn’t change the fact that he contributed to ‘cold, hard fraud.’
‘Without people like the defendant, these schemes can’t work,’ Berman told the judge.
At the time of McCormack’s guilty plea in January 2025, only Porter’s role in the scheme was known.
It wasn’t until this past October that Rozier’s alleged involvement in the scheme was revealed by federal law enforcement.
Rozier pled not guilty to charges he’s facing and is currently out on $3million bond
Porter, meanwhile, has pled guilty to conspiracy and was banned for life from the NBA
Rozier pled not guilty in December to charges of wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy after being accused of helping friends win bets by under-performing in a game in March 2023 while playing for the Charlotte Hornets.
The point guard, currently with the Miami Heat but placed on unpaid leave, is free on a $3million bond and isn’t due back in court until March.
Meanwhile, Porter pled guilty to a federal conspiracy charge back in 2024 and is awaiting sentencing.
Porter received a lifetime ban from playing in the NBA from commissioner Adam Silver as a result of his actions.
