Malik Beasley Pleads Not Guilty in NBA Gambling Scheme
Ex-NBAers Ed Davis, Damon Jones also allegedly involved in plot to profit from fixed player props.
Former NBA player Malik Beasley on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to four federal charges stemming from an indictment in the Eastern District of New York alleging he conspired with gamblers to rig prop bets in four games in the 2023-24 season.
He was released on $100,000 bond and ordered to reappear at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn on Aug. 6.
Beasley, with the Milwaukee Bucks at the time of the alleged malfeasance, is charged on counts of sports bribery, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Ed Davis – Beasley’s teammate with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2020-21 season – is also among six charged and is accused by federal prosecutors of being the “gatekeeper” to Beasley, who allegedly solicited bribes in return for manipulating points and rebounds props, in part to pay off loans to Davis to cover gambling debts totaling in the millions during his nine-year NBA career.
The only other co-conspirator arraigned on Wednesday in Brooklyn was Paolo Zamorano, a registered National Basketball Players Association agent. He, too, pleaded not guilty and was released on $100,000 with a next appearance scheduled for Aug. 6.
“Bribery and insider betting schemes like this one involving former NBA players and a current NBA player agent who exploited inside NBA information for profit erode the integrity of American sports and victimize the sports-watching public,” Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a release on Monday, when the indictment was unsealed.
Beasley faces a maximum sentence of 20 years of imprisonment for both the wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy counts, and five years for bribery in sporting contests.
Damon Jones Allegedly Involved in Beasley Scheme
In a document filed after the indictments on Monday, federal prosecutors named former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones as a co-conspirator in the Beasley case.
Jones pleaded not guilty to using inside information for the purpose of betting in the case that has former NBA player Terry Rozier set to stand trial for sports corruption charges in February.
Feds: Gambling Ring Bet Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars
Federal prosecutors claim that the gambling ring – which included an unindicted co-conspirator described as a current Division II men’s basketball assistant coach – wagered hundreds of thousands of dollars in its four-game plot. One bet alone won $121,000.
Charging documents include lengthy text strings between co-conspirators Zamorano, Rob Gorodetsky, Ernesto Plascencia, and William Brown fretting over whether their bets would cash, including one instance on March 10, 2024 when Beasley grabbed a rebound with 1.1 seconds remaining against the Los Angeles Clippers to make the winners.
The ring apparently began to dissolve when the group became mistrustful of each other about payouts of winnings and how bets were being determined.
Gambling Insider delivers the latest industry news, in-depth features, and operator reviews that you can trust. Our team combines rigorous editorial standards with decades of specialized expertise to ensure accuracy and fairness. We are committed to delivering clear, impartial, and dependable coverage across the global gambling sector.
