by Dollita Okine, Face2FaceAfrica.com
Malik Beasley, a former NBA player with nine years of experience, has decided to plead guilty to federal charges related to an investigation by the Department of Justice into illegal sports gambling.
His attorney, Steve Haney, informed The Athletic that Beasley has been in discussions for a plea deal with prosecutors from the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and has officially notified them of his intention to plead guilty.
Beasley is set to become the second active NBA player to plead guilty in connection with a federal investigation into gambling within the league.
He was indicted in June for his involvement in a sports gambling scheme that involved him manipulating his performance to help bettors win prop bets on his statistics. Initially, he had pleaded not guilty.
The first NBA player to plead guilty was Jontay Porter, who admitted in July 2024 to his role in a separate but related gambling scheme and is currently awaiting sentencing.
Ed Davis, a former NBA player, was also indicted alongside Beasley. Federal prosecutors claim he was the mastermind behind the scheme. Beasley and Davis were teammates on the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2020-21 season, and both are charged with four different counts.
Beasley, according to federal prosecutors, fell into gambling debt and took a loan from Davis, which led him to participate in the gambling scheme to repay it.
They were among six men indicted in this case. One of them, William Brown, has already pleaded guilty, while two others, Robert Gorodetsky and Ernesto Plascencia, are also expected to plead guilty, as confirmed by their lawyers.
Beasley was indicted for allegedly manipulating his performance in four games with the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2023-24 season.
These games included matchups against the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 26, 2024, the Charlotte Hornets on February 27, 2024, the LA Clippers on March 10, 2024, and the Brooklyn Nets on March 21, 2024.
Over his nine seasons in the NBA, Beasley earned approximately $60 million in salary.
He was close to securing a $42 million contract after the 2024-25 season, having finished second in the Sixth Man of the Year voting for the Detroit Pistons. However, the team retracted its contract offer upon learning of his federal investigation. Since then, he has not played in the NBA.
The court date for his plea is set for December 9 in a federal court in Brooklyn.
The Beasley case is just one of many gambling scandals in the NBA since sports betting became widely legalized, according to NBC Sports. So far, the NFL has managed to steer clear of any major gambling controversies since the Supreme Court allowed states to regulate sports wagering in 2018.