Former Laker Malik Beasley agrees to plead guilty in federal court over gambling ring involvement
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- Former NBA player Malik Beasley has agreed to plead guilty in a federal case tied to an alleged gambling ring, months after denying the charges.
- Prosecutors accuse Beasley of manipulating his performance in Milwaukee Bucks games to influence prop bets.
- The specific charge he will admit remains unclear, with a plea hearing set for Dec. 9.
Former NBA player Malik Beasley has agreed to a plea deal months after initially pleading not guilty to federal charges tied to his alleged involvement in a gambling ring.
Beasley is expected to enter a guilty plea during a Dec. 9 hearing, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York confirmed in an email to The Times.
The NBA journeyman, who spent half of the 2022-2023 season with the Lakers, and several others were charged this summer with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery in sporting contests, honest services wire fraud conspiracy and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Beasley entered a not guilty plea to all charges on July 1.
Malik Beasley allegedly agreed with ex-teammate Ed Davis in advance of NBA games that Beasley would underperform, and at times overperform, so gamblers could win bets.
It is not clear the charges to which Beasley will be entering a guilty plea.
Beasley has been accused of illegally manipulating his performance in NBA games to ensure gamblers won prop bets on at least four occasions while he was playing for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023-2024. According to the indictment, he and co-defendant Ed Davis, also a one-time Laker who was teammates with Beasley on the 2020-2021 Minnesota Timberwolves, conspired for Beasley to under- or overperform during certain games relative to specific statistics on which others involved in the scheme would place bets.
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Beasley had previously borrowed money from Davis after accumulating millions of dollars in gambling losses. In exchange for fixing his performances, the indictment says, Beasley’s debts to Davis were “reduced or paid off.”
Also indicted were Paolo Zamorano, William Brown, Robert Gorodetsky and Ernesto Plascencia. All six defendants initially pleaded not guilty to all charges, but Brown has since pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and Gorodetsky and Plascencia also both scheduled for change of plea hearings in November.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
