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- Former Detroit Pistons’ Malik Beasley has been indicted on illegal sports betting charges
- Beasley allegedly informed several co-conspirators of his plans to manipulate games so they could place illegal sports bets on his performance
- Accidental rebounds led to several lost bets and the end of the illegal sports betting ring
Three accidental rebounds led to the end of an illegal sports betting ring that has since seen former NBA shooting guard Malik Beasley, and several co-conspirators, face illegal sports betting charges for manipulating the outcomes of several NBA games.
In federal court in Brooklyn, 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 illegal sports betting ring made hundreds of thousands of dollars on winning bets with nonpublic information, but several extra rebounds during a March 21, 2024, matchup led to infighting among the group and the dissolvement of the scheme.
Ring Used Nonpublic Information to Cash In
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.
In addition to Beasley and Davis, current NBA player agent Paolo Zamorano is also being charged. 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.
In exchange for bribes or a reduction of his personal debts to Davis, Beasley would inform his former NBA teammate (who would then inform the ring) his plan to focus in on a certain statistical category, usually points or rebounds, for a certain game.
During a March 10, 2024, Milwaukee Bucks vs. Los Angeles Clipper matchup, Beasley informed Davis he would go over his posted total of 3.5 rebounds for the game. Beasley was able to nab three rebounds through three quarters, but struggled to cash in on the final rebound.
Beasley grabbed the final rebound he needed with just 1.1 seconds left in the game. Following along and texting in real time, his co-defendants celebrated the win with the following back and forth, according to the indictment.
However, the illegal sports betting ring would dissolve just two weeks later after three accidental rebounds led to a number of lost bets.
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.
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.