Former NBA stars Malik Beasley and Ed Davis have been indicted in connection with an alleged illegal sports betting scheme.
Beasley and Davis are facing charges alongside four alleged co-conspirators, identified as William Brown, Robert Gorodetsky, Ernesto Plascencia and current NBA player agent Paolo Zamorano, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said Monday.
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“Several” defendants were arrested Monday and will be arraigned at an unspecified later date, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors allege Beasley, a player for the Milwaukee Bucks at the time, agreed to alter his performance during games and accepted bribes from his co-defendants, who used that information to place bets based on his performance “with the intention of profiting off the scheme.” Those bets were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, prosecutors noted.
Malik Beasley, 29, is accused of accepting bribes and agreeing to alter his performance during games while playing for the Milwaukee Bucks, prosecutors said (Getty)
“As alleged, the defendants turned professional basketball into a criminal betting operation, bribing then-NBA player Malik Beasley to fix his performance in multiple games in order to place fraudulent wagers, enrich themselves and cheat legitimate sportsbooks,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said in a statement.
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“These defendants allegedly operated an illegal betting ring in an attempt to unlawfully earn hundreds of thousands of dollars. As alleged, Malik Beasley allowed himself to be bought and altered his gametime performance to line pockets of Ed Davis and his other co-conspirators,” said James Barnacle, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office.
Ed Davis, 37, was charged alongside Beasley and four other co-conspirators, according to prosecutors (Getty)
Beasley, 29, joined the Milwaukee Bucks for the 2023-2024 season, after playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets. He moved to the Detroit Pistons for the 2024-2025 season, and earlier this year, signed a deal to play for the Santurce Crabbers, a Puerto Rican team co-owned by music star Bad Bunny.
Davis, 37, most recently played for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2021-2022 season. He and Bealsey both played for the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2020 and 2021.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
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