Warning: Undefined array key "post_type_share_twitter_account" in /var/www/vhosts/casinonewsblogger.com/public_html/wp-content/themes/cryptocurrency/vslmd/share/share.php on line 24
- Malik Beasley and co-defendant Paolo Zamorano entered pleas of not guilty to several charges related to an alleged illegal sports betting ring
- Beasley and Zamorano were both arraigned today at U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York
- Beasley faces several charges after allegedly agreeing to underperform or overperform in certain NBA games relative to his statistical over/under lines
Malik Beasley, a former NBA player, and co-defendant Paolo Zamorano were both arraigned today at U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York and entered pleas of not guilty for their roles in an alleged illegal sports betting ring.
Beasley and Zamorano, an NBA agent, both face wire fraud conspiracy, bribery in sporting contests, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy charges. Beasley, Zamorano, and four other defendants were indicted yesterday and face illegal sports betting charges after Beasley allegedly manipulated game performances during his time with the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2023-2024 NBA season in exchange for bribes.
Beasley and Zamorano were both released on a $100,000 bond.
“Bigger Conversation” About Sports Betting Industry
Beasley and his attorney, Jason Goldman, stood outside the court today following his arraignment and issued a brief statement.
Lauren Conlin, an East Coast contributor for Los Angeles Magazine, posted video of the statement on X.
“He looks forward to fighting. He’s fought every day. He’s presumed innocent and that has to mean something still obviously. There’s a bigger conversation here about the industry, individuals and institutions profiting billions of billions of dollars and fueling addiction. A larger, broader conversation needs to happen at some point. Mr. Beasley respects everyone’s privacy, he wants to move on with his life. He’s a professional. He obviously has widespread family and fan support. That’s all we’ll say for now. We’ll address the rest in court and this is only the very beginning of things. An arrest means nothing. An indictment means nothing and that has to mean something. He’s presumed innocent. Today is a formality and we look forward with moving on with the case,” Goldman said.
The other four defendants in the case will appear with Beasley and Zamorano on Thursday, Aug. 6, before U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall.
Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars Bet
In federal court in Brooklyn this week, an indictment was unsealed charging six defendants, including Beasley and a former NBA teammate of his, Ed Davis, with wire fraud conspiracy, bribery in sporting contests, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy for their alleged roles in a gambling scheme to bribe Beasley to manipulate certain game performances.
The gambling ring allegedly used this non-public information to profit off illegal sports betting activity on his performances.
The indictment also names co-conspirators William Brown, Robert Gorodetsky, and Ernesto Plascencia as individuals who would use the non-public information to place “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in bets on Beasley’s performances.
According to the indictment, Beasley, as member of the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2023-2024 NBA season, agreed with former NBA teammate Davis (Davis and Beasley both played for the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2020-2021) ahead of certain games that he would either underperform or overperform relative to over/under sports betting lines for certain statistical categories.
Davis allegedly acquired bribes for Beasley to manipulate his performance and the information was used by the other charged individuals to place illegal bets on his performance.
In return for his manipulation, Beasley either received the afformentioned bribes from the co-conspirators or had his personal gambling debts to Davis reduced or paid off.
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment on the wire fraud conspiracy counts, 20 years imprisonment on the money laundering conspiracy count, and five years imprisonment on the bribery in sports contests count.
Game Manipulation Examples
The U.S. Department of Justice included several examples of Beasley’s alleged manipulation during his 2023-2024 season with the Milwaukee Bucks. Beasley played in 79 regular season games for the Bucks, starting 77 of them, and averaged 11.3 points per game, 3.7 rebounds per game, and 1.4 assists per game.
Here are several examples of games Beasley allegedly manipulated:
- Jan. 26. 2024. Milwaukee Bucks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Beasley informed Davis that he intended to underperform with respects to his rebounding over/under total. He provided the information for a bribe Beasley played a total of 27 minutes and gathered three rebounds. Davis informed multiple co-conspirators of Beasley’s intentions, who used this information to place a number of fraudulent bets. Many of the bets were successful.
- Feb. 27, 2024. Milwaukee Bucks vs. Charlotte Hornets: Beasley informed Davis he would underperform with respects to points, but overperform with respects to rebounds. He provided the information for a bribe. Beasley scored six points and grabbed four rebounds. Co-conspirators used the information to place several fraudulent sports bets. Many of the bets were successful.
- March 10, 2024. Milwaukee Bucks vs. Los Angeles Clippers: Beasley informed Davis he would overperform with respects to rebounding in the game. He provided the information for a bribe. He grabbed four total rebounds for the contest. Co-conspirators placed several fraudulent bets using this information, many of which were successful.
Sports Betting Ring Topples Due to Mistake
Two days after the March 10 game, the sports betting ring began to see signs of distrust, as co-defendants started to argue over Zamorano placing bets on the fixed outcomes that were so large they started to change the lines.
During an argument through a text chat, Davis left the group and the co-defendants joked that he did so to remove the conversation from his phone.
Everything would end less than two weeks later a March 21, 2024, Milwaukee Bucks vs. Brooklyn Nets game. Beasley informed the group he would go under his posted total of 3.5 rebounds for the game.
Beasley, however, ended the matchup with six rebounds, causing the sports betting ring to lose numerous under prop bets they placed on his rebounding totals. Following the performance, Plascencia demanded Davis compensate the ring for the losses or arrange for Beasley to fix several other games in the future so they could recoup the money they lost.
Davis initially agreed to have Beasley fix other games, but following reports that former Toronto Raptors backup center Jontay Porter was under investigation for a similar sports betting scheme, he did not go through with his promise.
The sports betting ring dissolved soon thereafter, but not before Plascencia and Zamorano went behind Davis’s back to contact Beasley directly to continue the scheme. Beasley, however, deleted these messages and Davis removed himself from text conversations.