Los AngelesFederal prosecutors stated that former NBA player Gilbert Arenas and five other individuals, including a suspected member of an Israeli organized criminal ring, were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of holding unlawful high-stakes poker games at Arenas’ mansion in Los Angeles.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that all six defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to conduct an unlawful gambling company and one count of operating an illegal gambling enterprise. Wednesday afternoon is when they are all expected to be arraigned.
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A lawyer and public relations firm that represented Arenas received messages asking for comment. An attorney cannot be found for him in online court records.
According to the statement, Arenas, 43, is also accused of lying to federal investigators. The indictment refers to him as “Agent Zero,” a moniker he earned while playing for the Washington Wizards.
The other five accused, who range in age from 27 to 52, are all Los Angeles residents. One of them is a 49-year-old guy who investigators say is a suspected Israeli organized crime figure.
According to the indictment, the defendants set up a house in the Encino neighborhood to play Pot Limit Omaha poker games and other unlawful gambling activities between September 2021 and July 2022. According to court filings, the poker players paid a rake, which is a cost that is either fixed or calculated as a percentage of each hand wagered.
Prosecutors claim that one of the accused employed young ladies who served beverages, gave massages, and provided company to the poker players in exchange for tips.
A portion of the money the women made from working the games was taxed. According to the statement, these illicit poker games were also staffed by chefs, valets, and armed security officers.
Separate charges against the Israeli guy include lying on immigration applications and marriage fraud. He is suspected of plotting to get permanent legal status in the United States by getting married in a phony marriage with a 35-year-old woman from Los Angeles.
Prosecutors said that if found guilty, the defendants would be sentenced to a maximum of five years in federal prison for each count.
Throughout his 11-year career with four clubs, Arenas averaged 20.7 points, most notably during his seven-plus-season stay in Washington from 2004 to 2011.
A three-time All-Star, a talented scorer, and a vital component of a few Wizards teams that saw some success in the mid-to-late 2000s, Arenas was charismatic and mercurial, earning nicknames like Agent Zero (which stood for his number) and Hibachi for the way he could get heated during a game.
However, Arenas’ tenure in Washington came to an end in shame. In January 2010, Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton were suspended for the remainder of the NBA season after they pulled pistols on one another in the locker room.
The following season, Arenas made a brief comeback to play for Washington before being traded to Orlando. After that, he rebounded to Memphis in 2011, playing 17 games off the bench before leaving to play in the Chinese Basketball Association from 2012 to 2013. He never played in the NBA again.
His son, a highly regarded freshman basketball player at the University of Southern California, was a basketball star in high school in Los Angeles. The school said last week that his collegiate career is on pause while he has knee surgery, with recovery estimated to take months.
