Malik Beasley Set to Plead Guilty Dec. 9 in Brooklyn Federal Court, Attorney Says

Since Beasley's lawyer confirmed Saturday, Oct. 24, that plea talks with federal prosecutors were underway, the case has moved from negotiation to a date on the calendar. Attorney Steve Haney says the former NBA guard will plead guilty Dec. 9 in federal court in Brooklyn.

Haney gave the date to ESPN, which published it Tuesday, Oct. 27. He had told The Associated Press on Saturday that the sides were working toward an agreement "with an expected direction in the coming days."

What the filing shows

A court notice filed overnight Saturday said Beasley, 29, intends to plead guilty. The notice did not say which counts he would plead to, according to ABC News.

The judge overseeing the case referred the "change of plea" to a federal magistrate in Brooklyn, who schedules the hearing where Beasley formally enters the plea.

Beasley had pleaded not guilty in July to four counts: bribery in sporting contests, wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. Until he enters the plea in court, the charges remain allegations.

What prosecutors allege

The indictment accuses Beasley of fixing, or trying to fix, his performance in at least four games for the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2023-24 season. Those games were against Cleveland on Jan. 26, 2024, Charlotte on Feb. 27, Los Angeles Clippers on March 10 and Brooklyn on March 21.

Prosecutors say co-defendants picked games that were not nationally televised. Beasley then allegedly decided whether to underperform or overperform his scoring and rebounding, so bettors could win wagers on his individual stats.

In return, the indictment says, the bettors paid him bribes, and debts he owed to former NBA player Ed Davis were reduced or eliminated. Prosecutors say Beasley had run up multimillion-dollar gambling losses and had borrowed from Davis, who is accused of acting as his "gatekeeper."

The indictment quotes a Jan. 26, 2024, text from Davis to Beasley: "Only way you can beat Vegas is sports betting. Everything else they got the edge." That is the same date as the first game named in the charges.

The other defendants

Beasley was one of six people charged in the indictment. The case is part of a broader federal gambling investigation that has produced more than three dozen arrests.

Beasley's plea does not resolve anyone else's case. Sports agent Paolo Zamorano, 39, who formerly represented Davis, has pleaded not guilty and the case is proceeding against the other defendants. Zamorano and Davis were charged with the same four counts as Beasley.

Damon Jones became the first person to plead guilty in the wider sweep in April. Jones admitted conspiring to defraud sportsbooks using insider information he obtained through his relationships as a former player.

The money and the career

Beasley's financial troubles were public before the indictment. They include disputes with a Detroit landlord, a Milwaukee barber and a Minnesota dentist. A sports marketing agency won a $1 million default judgment against him in a 2025 lawsuit.

He last played in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons in 2024-25 on a one-year, $6 million deal. He averaged 16.3 points per game and finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting. ESPN-sourced reporting at ClutchPoints says Detroit had considered a three-year contract worth roughly $42 million, then withdrew the offer after learning of the federal investigation.

The conduct alleged in the indictment dates to his time in Milwaukee, not Detroit.

What happens next

The Dec. 9 hearing will be the first public look at what Beasley is actually admitting. The filing so far does not say whether he is pleading to all four counts or to fewer, or whether he has agreed to cooperate against Davis and the others.

No sentencing date has been announced. Sentencing exposure will depend on the counts he pleads to and on any agreement with the government, and neither is public until the magistrate takes the plea in Brooklyn.