The list of high-profile athletes caught up in illegal gambling scandals this year grew longer Wednesday, as former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas was arrested along with five others in connection to an illegal poker ring operating out of a mansion owned by Arenas in Encino, California.
According to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Arenas is facing three charges. They are one count each of conspiracy to operate illegal gambling, operating illegal gambling and making false statements to federal investigators.
Five other men were arrested alongside Arenas: Yevgeni Gershman, Evgenni Tourevski, Allan Austria, Yarin Cohen and Ievgen Krachun.
Per the US Attorney’s Office, Gershman in particular is “a suspected organized crime figure from Israel”. In addition to the gambling charges, Gershman and his wife Valentina Cojocari face three additional counts related to marriage fraud. The duo allegedly entered into a “sham marriage” for the sake of granting legal status for Gershman, an Israeli citizen.
The maximum sentence for each of the gambling charges is five years in federal prison. Arenas was arraigned and pled not guilty Wednesday in federal court in Los Angeles. He was released on $50,000 bond with a trial date of 23 September. Federal prosecutors declined to comment further.
A complex operation
Arenas and the co-conspirators allegedly operated an illegal poker ring out of the Encino mansion from September 2021 to July 2022. During that time, Arenas rented the house to his associates “for the purpose of hosting high-stakes illegal poker games”, per the statement.
Arthur Kats, 51, who was not named as a co-conspirator, reportedly served as a property manager of sorts. He was said to have staged the house for games, recruited people to host the games and collected rent for Arenas.
Four of the men — Gershman, Tourevski, Austria, and Cohen — were said to be the primary operators of the games. They collected rakes, or a percentage of the pots during each game, and solicited potential players. Krachun was said to be the accountant or “chip runner” of the operation, tracking wins and losses, distributing chips and facilitating payouts.
Young women were also hired by Gershman to staff the games. The women reportedly served drinks, “provided massages, and offered companionship to the poker players”, although no sexual-related charges are listed. Arenas’ co-conspirators kept a percentage of the earnings given to these women. Other accomplices include hired chefs, valets and armed “security guards”.
Under California law, poker is only legal at state-licensed card rooms or at tribal-owned casinos.
Unclear if incident is part of other scandals
Arenas is among several athletes named in gambling scandals this year, some of which are connected to one another. For example, multiple athletes are ensnared in an investigation by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. They include Jontay Porter, who was banned from the NBA for life last year for intentionally underperforming to cash prop bets.
Current Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is also connected to that case, and new information related to similar allegations and suspicious bet patterns was reported by ESPN this month. Former Pistons guard Malik Beasley is part of that investigation as well.
In MLB, two pitchers for the Cleveland Guardians — Luis Ortiz and All-Star Emmanuel Clase — have been placed under investigation in recent weeks. Few details have emerged about Clase, but Ortiz faces prop-bet manipulation allegations for pitches that badly missed the plate in two June starts. MLB last year banned former infielder Tucupita Marcano for life for betting on baseball, and umpire Pat Hoberg was fired for sharing a betting account with a friend.
It is unclear at this time whether Arenas’ case is connected to any other high-profile sports betting investigations.
Top prosecutor’s term extended the previous day
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump extended the term for Bill Essayli as the interim US Attorney for the Central District of California, just before his term was set to expire.
In addition to the Arenas case, the Central District has conducted a multi-year investigation into the illegal sports betting market in Southern California. Next month, Matt Bowyer is scheduled to be sentenced in Santa Ana on charges of illegal bookmaking, money laundering and federal tax evasion. Bowyer is the bookmaker that handled $325 million in sports wagers from Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani.
Trump appointed Essayli in April for an initial 120-day term. Essayli succeeded acting US Attorney Joseph McNally. The extension allows Essayli to serve an additional 210 days without Senate confirmation.
Besides Bowyer, two other illegal bookmakers are awaiting sentencing in the district. The office has delayed the sentencing of Damien LeForbes, a pro poker player, several times this year. Another bookie, former A’s minor league pitcher Wayne Nix, has seen his sentencing continued on multiple occasions since his 2022 guilty plea.
Rocky road for Agent Zero
The 43-year-old Arenas, known by NBA fans as “Agent Zero” for his jersey number, has fallen from grace over the last 20 years. Arenas played in the NBA from 2001-2012 for multiple teams, most notably the Washington Wizards. He was a three-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA honoree for the franchise.
But in late 2009, Arenas’ career was derailed by an incident involving teammate Javaris Crittenton. Both men brought guns to the Wizards locker room, which was later revealed to have been due to a dispute from a card game. A documentary chronicling the incident titled “Untold: Shooting Guards” is currently streaming on Netflix.
Over the years Arenas had worked to rebuild his image and became something of a media personality. His online sports talk show “Gil’s Arena” is sponsored by Underdog Fantasy, which just renewed the show’s contract in January.
Arenas’ son, Alijah, is also a highly recruited young player who is signed to play at the University of Southern California. The younger Arenas earlier this year survived a severe car crash that left him in a medically induced coma.
Matt Rybaltowski contributed to this report.
Gilbert Arenas is again in trouble over card games, but this time, it is set to lead to criminal prosecution.