Beasley in plea talks over gambling charges

AP:

Former NBA player Malik Beasley is negotiating a plea agreement with the Department of Justice after initially pleading not guilty to charges that he altered his performance in certain games in 2024 to benefit sports bettors and reduce his own debts, his attorney said yesterday.

Beasley entered a not-guilty plea in New York federal court in July. He was among the latest high-profile figures implicated in a wide-ranging federal gambling investigation.

His attorney, Steve Haney, told The Associated Press via text message that discussions with the government were ongoing “with an expected direction in the coming days”.

Beasley, 29, and sports agent Paolo Zamorano, who has also pleaded not guilty, were among six people charged in an indictment unsealed this summer that detailed a gambling scandal linked to more than three dozen arrests.

Zamorano, 39, previously represented co-defendant and former NBA player Ed Davis, who had lent money to Beasley and is accused of acting as his “gatekeeper” in the alleged scheme.

According to the indictment, Beasley fixed or attempted to fix his performance in at least four games while playing for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2024 by underperforming or overperforming bookmakers’ expectations. In return, the indictment alleges that bettors bribed Beasley and that debts he owed to Davis were reduced or erased.

“Only way you can beat Vegas is sports betting,” Davis told Beasley in a January 26, 2024, text message, according to the indictment. “Everything else they got the edge.”

Beasley is alleged to have borrowed money from Davis, a former teammate, after accumulating millions of dollars in gambling losses.

His widely reported financial troubles have included disputes with a landlord in Detroit, a barber in Milwaukee, and a dentist in Minnesota. In 2025, a lawsuit filed by a sports marketing agency resulted in a US$1 million default judgment against him.

Beasley has been out of the NBA since spending the 2024-25 season with the Detroit Pistons on a one-year, US$6 million contract.

He averaged 16 points per game and scored 20 points in his final appearance, a playoff defeat to the New York Knicks.

Beasley is also one of only five players in NBA history to make more than 300 three-pointers in a season.