Beasley Nears Guilty Plea in NBA Betting Scheme — SkimNews
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- Malik Beasley is negotiating a plea deal with Department of Justice lawyers over allegations he manipulated his on-court statistics during the 2023-24 NBA season, according to his attorney Steve Haney
- Beasley allegedly underperformed or overperformed in at least four Milwaukee Bucks games that were not nationally televised, enabling gamblers to profit from bets on his individual stats
- Beasley faces federal charges including bribery in sporting contests, wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy, after initially pleading not guilty
- Ernesto Plascencia and William Brown, co-defendants in the case, are scheduled to enter guilty pleas, following Brown’s earlier guilty plea this month
- Ed Davis and Paolo Zamorano, also charged in the scheme, have pleaded not guilty, creating a split among the defendants as others move toward cooperation
- The indictment states Beasley had accumulated multi-million dollar gambling losses despite earning tens of millions during his NBA career, providing a motive for his alleged involvement
Why it matters: As multiple defendants shift toward guilty pleas, the case risks exposing vulnerabilities in sports integrity, particularly around player conduct in non-televised games. Beasley’s potential cooperation could accelerate prosecutions and prompt the NBA to strengthen monitoring of in-game performance anomalies linked to betting patterns.
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