Claim:
The FBI’s October 2025 sting on an illegal gambling ring that included NBA player Terry Rozier revealed that the scheme traced back to U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.
Rating:
In October 2025, the FBI announced the arrest of NBA player Terry Rozier and NBA coach and hall-of-fame player Chauncey Billups on charges of participating in two separate illegal gambling operations. Rozier allegedly participated in an illegal sports betting ring that influenced the outcomes of games, while the FBI implicated Billups in a scheme to cheat at high-stakes poker games.
Following the announcement, several widely shared social media posts on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), X (archived) and Gettr (archived) claimed the FBI linked Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., to the scheme that included Rozier. The posts claimed Booker “conspired with Rozier to profit from inside knowledge of NBA outcomes.”
The claim that the FBI implicated Booker in Rozier’s alleged illegal gambling scheme was not true. Neither the FBI nor the U.S. Department of Justice named Booker when releasing information on the gambling rings.
Rather, the claim originated as satire. The social media accounts that first spread the rumor were run by Jonathan Gregory (archived), whose Facebook profile identified him as a comedian. Snopes has investigated other claims that began as satirical posts from Gregory in the past, including that the California Democratic Party purchased 200 pallets of bricks in May 2025 to supply protesters during civil unrest in Los Angeles.
On Oct. 23, 2025, the Justice Department published news releases for each of the two illegal gambling operations.
In the operation that involved Rozier, the FBI named eight people, two of whom had already been arrested and pleaded guilty to their participation in the scheme. Three, including Rozier, were NBA players, while the other five were conspirators who reportedly benefitted from the scheme. The FBI did not name Booker among those people.
The indictment, which detailed examples of when Rozier and the others allegedly profited from their gambling schemes, did not include Booker’s name.
The FBI did not name Booker in its news release about the operation that allegedly involved Billups, either.
President Donald Trump has publicly urged the Justice Department to prosecute his political opponents. Considering Booker is a high-profile Senate Democrat, it’s unlikely the Justice Department would not reveal Booker’s link to such a scandal if it had evidence he were involved in it.
A Google search for “gambling booker” narrowed to government websites did not return any results linking Booker to the illegal gambling schemes. A broader search for “nba gambling scandal cory booker” did not reveal any credible news reporting linking Booker to the gambling scandal. Major news outlets would have widely reported on the story if a U.S. senator had been linked to an already high-profile gambling scandal that included well-known NBA players.
For further reading, Snopes has previously fact-checked other claims about Booker.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.
