Former NBA player Malik Beasley, 29, intends to plead guilty to federal charges linked to his alleged sports-bribery and betting scheme, a court docket entry shows.
Previously, in the case, the 29-year-old NBA player had pleaded not guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to bribery in sporting contests, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit honest-services wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall, overseeing the cases, referred the matter for a change of plea to a magistrate judge in Brooklyn for a hearing to be scheduled.
“with an expected direction in the coming days,” Beasley’s attorney Steve Haney said the defense has been in plea negotiations with the Justice Department for a while now while acknowledging the plea agreement
Allegedly, Prosecutors, then, said that while Beasley was with the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2023-24 season he received bribes to manipulate his on-court performance, typically through reductions or payoffs of gambling debts he owed ex-NBA player Edward Davis, as part of a betting operation involving wagers worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The arrangement gave bettors advance information about Beasley’s intended statistical performance that other gamblers would not ordinarily have, which they could then use to place wagers aimed at profiting from the difference between the expected statistics and his actual performance.
At the time Beasley was with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023-24 on a one-year contract valued at $2,709,849, with about $2.02 million actually paid.
A review of the indictment alleged discussions in the scheme suggested Beasley received about $5,000 to $8,000 per game, through payments or debt relief. The scheme involved several Bucks games between January and March 2024, including one in which the planned performance did not occur and related wagers lost.
Originally, the case stemmed from a June indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, which named six defendants.
Beasley is one of six defendants named in the federal case, alongside former NBA player Edward Davis, sports agent Paolo Zamorano, William Brown, Robert Gorodetsky and Ernesto Plascencia.
The entry does not identify which count or counts Beasley intends to admit, gives no hearing date, and no guilty plea has been entered.
