Former NBA player Malik Beasley to plead guilty in federal sports betting case: Court filing

Former NBA player Malik Beasley intends to plead guilty to federal charges that accused him and five others of taking part in a bribery and betting scheme, according to a court notice filed overnight Saturday.

Beasley, 29, had previously pleaded not guilty to four federal counts — bribery in sporting contests, wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy — but the docket notice did not indicate what he would plead guilty to.

The judge overseeing Beasley’s case referred a “change of plea” to a federal magistrate in Brooklyn who will schedule a hearing at which Beasley will formally plead guilty.

His attorney couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Beasley, who played for six different NBA teams over a nine-year career, allegedly agreed to underperform his statistics during the 2023-2024 season when he played for the Milwaukee Bucks so gamblers could win their bets, according to prosecutors.

He had earned tens of millions of dollars during his career, but federal prosecutors accused Beasley of accumulating “multi-million dollar gambling losses” when he became part of the alleged scheme.

The indictment mentioned four games in which Beasley would allegedly fix his performance while playing for the Bucks: against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 26, 2024; against the Charlotte Hornets on Feb. 27, 2024; against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 10, 2024; and against the Brooklyn Nets on March 21, 2024.

According to the indictment, Beasley’s co-defendants allegedly selected games that would not be nationally televised and Beasley allegedly decided whether he would underperform or overperform his scoring and rebounding.

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