Former NBA player Malik Beasley has agreed to plead guilty in his federal sports betting case, his attorney, Steve Haney, said on Tuesday.
Beasley, who played nine seasons in the NBA, is scheduled to change his plea at a hearing on December 9 in New York. He initially pleaded not guilty to four federal charges: conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery in sporting contests, honest services wire fraud conspiracy and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Haney said over the weekend that his client was in talks with prosecutors about a potential plea agreement, and on Tuesday he confirmed that a deal had been reached. He declined to specify the terms of the agreement.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, based in Brooklyn, also confirmed that an agreement had been reached but declined to comment on the specifics.
An NBA spokesperson said: “We are aware of the recent report regarding Malik Beasley and will be monitoring the proceeding.”
Six defendants in the case
Beasley, 29, is one of six defendants in the case, which alleges that he coordinated with sports bettors to manipulate his statistics in at least four NBA games during the 2023-24 season. In the indictment, prosecutors claimed that Beasley, who was then playing for the Milwaukee Bucks, joined the scheme after accumulating “multimillion-dollar gambling losses.”
The attorney for another defendant, Ernesto Plascencia, confirmed on Saturday morning that his client will also enter a guilty plea. William Brown pleaded guilty earlier this month, while fellow sports bettor Robert Gorodetsky is scheduled to formally enter a guilty plea on November 20.
Former NBA player Ed Davis and Paolo Zamorano, who was Davis’s agent, were also charged in the case. Both have pleaded not guilty.