Marves Fairley’s expected plea hearing has been delayed. The delay slows a key step in two federal basketball betting cases that link alleged college point-shaving with an NBA insider betting probe.
Fairley, a Mississippi sports bettor also known online as “Vezino Locks,” had been scheduled for a change-of-plea hearing this week in Brooklyn. Magistrate Judge Joseph Marutollo adjourned the hearing without setting a new date.
Fairley had agreed to plead guilty
Fairley entered an agreement with prosecutors on May 1 to plead guilty in the college basketball matter. The delay leaves the plea without a new date. Court documents reviewed by ESPN showed Fairley also intended to plead guilty in a separate Eastern District of New York case. That case accused him of using nonpublic NBA information to win bets.
The overlap makes Fairley one of the more important defendants in the wider basketball betting investigation. He and Shane Hennen were among the few people charged in both the NCAA and NBA-related matters.
College case has moved closer to Brooklyn
The college case began in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where 26 people were charged in January over an alleged bribery and point-shaving scheme. Prosecutors said the case involved CBA games before moving into NCAA men’s basketball.
The indictment alleged that fixers, including Fairley and Hennen, recruited players to help teams fail to cover point spreads. Bribe payments were usually between $10,000 and $30,000 per game.
Prosecutors also alleged the scheme involved more than 39 players across more than 17 Division I men’s basketball teams and more than 29 NCAA games. The Pennsylvania case has since been reassigned to U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall, who is also handling the related New York matter.
New York case focuses on NBA betting information
The New York case focuses on alleged illegal sports betting using private NBA information. Prosecutors alleged that Fairley and others placed bets after receiving nonpublic details about player availability and team lineups.
One example involved a March 2023 Portland Trail Blazers game. Prosecutors alleged that Fairley and associates wagered more than $100,000 against Portland before lineup information became public. Former NBA player Damon Jones has already pleaded guilty in the wider gambling case.
The bill is moving alongside HB 53, which has already been sent to Gov. Jeff Landry. HB 53 adds several gambling crimes, including gambling by computer and gambling by electronic sweepstakes device, as crimes that can support racketeering cases.
