Malik Beasley is negotiating a guilty plea deal in the federal betting scandal

Malik Beasley is in talks with the Department of Justice after initially pleading not guilty to allegations that he manipulated his performance in 2024 games to benefit sports bettors and reduce his own debts. For high-risk payment players, the case is another reminder that betting-linked flows can quickly become a federal investigation, with players, agents, and alleged fixers all ending up in the same file.

1. Beasley’s lawyer, Steve Haney, told The Associated Press that the defense is negotiating an agreement with the government “with a planned direction in the next few days.” Beasley, 29, previously pleaded not guilty in July in federal court in New York.
2. He was one of the better-known names caught up in a broad federal betting probe. Beasley and sports agent Paolo Zamorano, 39, were among six people charged in an indictment unsealed this summer, in a case that has led to more than three dozen arrests.
3. The indictment says Beasley altered his performance in at least four games while playing for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2024, turning in results that went below or above betting expectations. In return, the filing says, bettors paid him off and his debts to Ed Davis were reduced or wiped out.
4. Zamorano had previously represented Davis, the former NBA player who had lent Beasley money and is accused of acting as his “guardian” in the alleged scheme. One cited text message from Davis to Beasley, dated January 26, 2024, said: “The only way to beat Las Vegas is with sports betting. In everything else they have the edge.”
5. Beasley had asked Davis for money after racking up millions of dollars in betting losses. The source text also cites disputes with a Detroit landlord, a Milwaukee barber and a Minnesota dentist, plus a 2025 lawsuit from a sports marketing agency that ended in a $1 million default judgment against him.

Beasley has not played since his 2024-25 season with the Detroit Pistons, where he was on a one-year, $6 million contract. He averaged 16 points per game and scored 20 in his final outing, a playoff loss to the New York Knicks. He is one of five players in NBA history with more than 300 threes in a season.