The Department of Justice on Monday detailed the indictments of former NBA players Malik Beasley and Edward Davis, current player agent Paolo Zamorano, and three other defendants in relation to another sports gambling conspiracy.
The indictments come exactly one year after federal authorities announced Beasley was being investigated over allegations of gambling off his own performances during the 2023-24 NBA season with the Milwaukee Bucks after one sportsbook detected “unusually heavy betting interest” on his own stats, according to ESPN.
“As alleged, the defendants turned professional basketball into a criminal betting operation,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. said in the statement. “Bribing then-NBA player Malik Beasley to fix his performance in multiple games in order to place fraudulent wagers, enrich themselves and cheat legitimate sportsbooks.”
Along with the players and agent, William Brown, Robert Gorodetsky, and Ernesto Plascencia were named co-conspirators. Beasley and Davis’ connection goes back to when the two were teammates on the Minnesota Timberwolves. Zamorano was Davis’ agent and has several other clients currently active in the NBA. Texts between the two athletes in 2023 allegedly reveal details about the gambling scandal.
“Only way you can beat Vegas is sports betting,” Davis allegedly texted Beasley, according to the indictment. “We can make some good money.”
Three specific examples of the ploy were provided in the DOJ statement.
The first was January 26, 2024, against the Cleveland Cavaliers, in which Beasley told Davis that he intended to “underperform with respect to rebounding.” Davis allegedly relayed this information to other defendants, who placed wagers on his rebounding statistic, according to the indictment.
The next alleged incident occurred on February 27, 2024, against the Charlotte Hornets. Beasley allegedly stated he would overperform in rebounding but underperform in points. Davis again relayed the non-public information to the co-conspirators, where they won their wagers. The final one mentioned occurred just weeks later, on March 10, 2024, against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Wagers placed on these three allegations totaled “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” with some wagers being $75,000, according to ESPN.
The former shooting guard has not appeared in an NBA game since the 2024-25 season, when he was slated to earn a $42 million free-agent deal before being investigated.
Beasley and Davis join Terry Rozier, Damon Jones, and Chauncey Billups as the latest former NBA players to face charges regarding gambling-related allegations.
This is not Beasley’s first run-in with the law. As a member of the Timberwolves during the 2020-21 season, Beasley was sentenced to 120 days in jail after pleading guilty to a felony count of threats of violence. Under the plea deal, the felony drug charges he was also facing from the incident were dropped.
Brown, Davis, Gorodetsky, and Plascencia have all been arrested across several locations. At the time of publication, Beasley and Zamorano are still not in custody. If found guilty, each defendant could face up to 20 years on a wire fraud conspiracy count, 20 years on a money laundering conspiracy count, and five years on bribery in sporting contests.
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