Former NBA Player Malik Beasley Indicted on Federal Sports Betting Charges

• According to the U.S. Department of Justice, former Detroit Pistons’ Malik Beasley has been indicted on illegal sports betting charges
• An investigation into Beasley’s sports betting activity began in June 2025
• Beasley allegedly agreed to either underperform or overperform in certain NBA games relative to his statistical over/under lines

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Nearly a year after a federal investigation began into former Detroit Pistons’ Malik Beasley, the U.S. Department of Justice today announced he and several other co-defendants are facing illegal sports betting charges after Beasley allegedly manipulated several game performances during his time with the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2023-2024 NBA season in exchange for bribes.

In federal court in Brooklyn today, 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 gambling ring allegedly used this non-public information to profit off illegal sports betting activity on his performances.

Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars Bet

In addition to Beasley and Davis, current NBA player agent Paolo Zamorano is also being charged. Zamorano currently represents one full-time NBA player and two players with two-way contracts, according to RealGM.com.

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.

“As alleged, the defendants turned professional basketball into a criminal betting operation, 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,” Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern Dictrict of New York said today. “Bribery and insider betting schemes like this one involving former NBA players and a current NBA player agent who exploited inside NBA information for profit erode the integrity of American sports and victimize the sports-watching public. Our office will continue in its strong tradition of holding accountable anyone who seeks to corrupt sports through illegal means.”

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.

Davis allegedly acquired bribes for Beasley to manipulate his performance and the information was used by the other charged individuals to place illegal bets on his performance.

In return for his manipulation, Beasley either received the afformentioned bribes from the co-conspirators or had his personal gambling debts to Davis reduced or paid off.

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.

“These defendants allegedly operated an illegal betting ring in an attempt to unlawfully earn hundreds of thousands of dollars. As alleged, Malik Beasley allowed himself to be bought and altered his gametime performance to line pockets of Ed Davis and his other co conspirators. The FBI continues to dismantle fraudulent schemes that erode the integrity of any institution, including our nation’s professional sports leagues,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle Jr. said in a released statement.

Game Manipulation Examples

The U.S. Department of Justice included several examples of Beasley’s alleged manipulation during his 2023-2024 season with the Milwaukee Bucks. Beasley played in 79 regular season games for the Bucks, starting 77 of them, and averaged 11.3 points per game, 3.7 rebounds per game, and 1.4 assists per game.

Here are several examples of games Beasley allegedly manipulated:

• Jan. 26. 2024. Milwaukee Bucks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Beasley informed Davis that he intended to underperform with respects to his rebounding over/under total. He provided the information for a bribe Beasley played a total of 27 minutes and gathered three rebounds. Davis informed multiple co-conspirators of Beasley’s intentions, who used this information to place a number of fraudulent bets. Many of the bets were successful.
• Feb. 27, 2024. Milwaukee Bucks vs. Charlotte Hornets: Beasley informed Davis he would underperform with respects to points, but overperform with respects to rebounds. He provided the information for a bribe. Beasley scored six points and grabbed four rebounds. Co-conspirators used the information to place several fraudulent sports bets. Many of the bets were successful.
• March 10, 2024. Milwaukee Bucks vs. Los Angeles Clippers: Beasley informed Davis he would overperform with respects to rebounding in the game. He provided the information for a bribe. He grabbed four total rebounds for the contest. Co-conspirators placed several fraudulent bets using this information, many of which were successful.

Investigation Began in 2025

News broke of an investigation into Beasley a year to the day, on June 29, 2025, by ESPN insider Shams Charania. According to Charania, a major U.S. sportsbook identified unusual betting activity surrounding Beasley’s statistics beginning January 2024.

CBS Sports provided more information, identifying the game in question as a Jan. 31, 2024 matchup between the Bucks and Portland Trail Blazers. Odds on Beasley hitting his under for rebounds, which was set at 2.5 rebounds, went from nearly +120 to around -250 prior to the game.

Despite the strong movement to the under, Beasley recorded six rebounds for the game.

It was reported in July 2025 that Beasley also faced a lawsuit from a former marketing agency that described the athlete as having “financial issues.” Hazan Sports Management, a New York-based professional basketball agency, filed a lawsuit against Beasley this past April, suing the then member of the Detroit Pistons for $2.25 million in relief for breach of contract.

In the lawsuit, counsel for Hazan Sports Management noted the firm took on Beasley as a client, despite him having known issues, “including and especially financial issues.”

In August 2025, lawyers for Beasley reported he was no longer being considered as a person of interest by the Eastern District of New York.

Beasley came in second for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award for the 2024-2025 season, but remained a free agent when news of the investigation into his performances broke last summer.