Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, 5 others charged with running illegal poker games at his LA mansion
All six defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and one count of operating an illegal gambling business, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office. They are all scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon.
Messages seeking comment were sent to an attorney and PR firm that represented Arenas. Online court records don't identify an attorney for him.
Arenas, 43, is also charged with making false statements to federal investigators, the statement said. He is named in the indictment as 'Agent Zero,' a nickname from his playing days with the Washington Wizards.
The other five defendants are residents of Los Angeles, ranging in age from 27 to 52. Among them is a 49-year-old man described by prosecutors as 'a suspected organized crime figure from Israel.'
The indictment says that from September 2021 to July 2022, the defendants staged the home in the Encino neighborhood to host 'Pot Limit Omaha' poker games and other illegal gambling activity. The poker players paid a 'rake,' a fee charged as a percentage or fixed amount from each hand gambled, court documents claim.
One of the defendants hired young women who, in exchange for tips, served drinks and provided massages and 'offered companionship' to the poker players, according to prosecutors.
'The women were charged a 'tax' — a percentage of their earnings from working the games. Chefs, valets, and armed security guards also were hired to staff these illegal poker games,' the statement said.
The Israeli man faces separate charges including marriage fraud and lying on immigration documents. He is suspected of conspiring with a 35-year-old Los Angeles woman to enter into a sham marriage for the purposes of obtaining permanent legal status in the U.S.
If convicted, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each count, prosecutors said.
Arenas averaged 20.7 points during an 11-year career with four teams, most notably a seven-plus season stint in Washington from 2004-11.
Charismatic and mercurial, Arenas — who counted 'Agent Zero' (representing his number) and 'Hibachi' for the way he could heat up during a game among his many nicknames — was a three-time All-Star, a gifted scorer and one of the key cogs in a handful of Wizards teams that enjoyed modest success in the mid-to-late 2000s.
Yet Arenas' run in Washington ended in disgrace. Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton were suspended for the balance of the NBA season in January 2010 following a locker-room incident in which both players pulled guns on each other.
Arenas returned to play briefly for Washington the following season before being traded to Orlando. He then bounced to Memphis in 2011, coming off the bench for 17 games before stepping away to play in the Chinese Basketball Association in 2012-13. He never returned to the NBA.
His son, Alijah Arenas, was a Los Angeles high school basketball star who is a highly touted freshman player for the University of Southern California. His college career is on hold pending knee surgery and rehab is expected to take months, the school said last week.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
25 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
U.S. citizen dies following Israeli settler arson attacks in the West Bank
A U.S. citizen died in the West Bank on Thursday morning, the U.S. State Department confirmed to the Miami Herald. According to his family, Khamis Abdul Latif Ayyad, 41, died of smoke-related injuries, after Israeli settlers set fire to cars in his village in the middle of the night. A U.S. State Department official confirmed Ayyad's death and citizenship in a statement to the Herald, but did not provide information about his cause of death. 'We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in the town of Silwad in the West Bank. We offer condolences to the family on their loss and are providing consular assistance to them. We condemn criminal violence by any party in the West Bank,' a State Department spokesperson said. Ayyad is the second known U.S. citizen to die this month in the West Bank, as residents tell reporters that the assaults from Israeli settlers have become nearly a daily occurrence. Just one town over from Silwad, 20-year-old Florida-born Sayfollah 'Saif' Musallet was beaten to death on Jul. 11 by Israeli settlers, who also shot and killed a second man. Musallet's death sparked outrage among Americans and Muslim groups in Florida who called for an investigation from the DeSantis administration and the Department of Justice. Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, wrote on X on July 15 that he asked Israel to 'aggressively investigate' Musallet's death. 'There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act,' he wrote. 'Saif was just 20 yrs old.' The Herald reached out to Huckabee but has yet to receive a response about Ayyad's death. A national Muslim advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, called for an investigation on Friday. Ayyad grew up in Silwad, a small village in the West Bank, but moved to the United States in 2008 with his wife, also a U.S. citizen, and settled in Chicago. Together they raised four sons and one daughter, ages 6 to 15. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, he moved back to the West Bank, and continued working remotely for an IT company, according to his brother, Ayman Ayyad. The Herald reached out to Palestinian and Israeli officials, including the Israeli Defense Forces, but has yet to receive a response. Around 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning Khamis Ayyad called his brother, Ayman Ayyad, who didn't pick up. Ayman Ayyad received a call around 4 a.m. from another brother who informed him that Khamis Ayyad had been transferred to a nearby hospital in Ramallah. He arrived to find that his brother had died. Khamis Ayyad had rushed to his brother's aid after settlers set fire to a car under the family house, Ayman Ayyad said. He died from smoke inhalation, according to his family and a Palestinian news agency. The family said the fire was started by Israeli settlers who came into Silwad, a village in the central West Bank near several Israeli settlements, in the middle of the night and set cars and homes ablaze. A funeral took place on Friday, and relatives are waiting for an autopsy to determine his official cause of death. The family has strong ties in the United States. Khamis Ayyad is one of nine children – seven of whom are U.S. citizens, according to his brother Ayman Ayyad, who live in Chicago and Philadelphia. They have cousins in Tampa, Fla. Ayman Ayyad described his brother as a family man. Whenever he wasn't working, he was with his wife and children. He was well-liked in his community, and focused on his family and building his career. 'He was loved by everyone,' he said. 'He caused no problems at all.' Ayman Ayyad had little to say to U.S. officials. He said that the 'whole world' already knows about the attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem. 'What, is it something people can't see? The whole world already sees it,' he said. This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, including Khalid and Diana Mirza, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
Epoch Times
26 minutes ago
- Epoch Times
2 Men Charged in Computer ‘Pop-Up' Scam Targeting Over 350 Elderly Victims
A New Yorker and an Oklahoman have been indicted for their alleged roles in an elder fraud scam through computer pop-ups, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on July 31. Jingbin Jiang, 37, of Staten Island, New York, and Su Jian Liu, 38, of Edmond, Oklahoma, are accused of attempting to steal over $18 million from over 350 people in a scheme that lasted from around 2023 until July this year. Prosecutors said Jiang was arrested on Thursday, while Liu remained at large.
Hamilton Spectator
4 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
A settler accused of killing a Palestinian activist is to be freed. Israel still holds the body
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An Israeli settler accused of killing a prominent Palestinian activist during a confrontation captured on video in the occupied West Bank will be released from house arrest, an Israeli court ruled Friday. The video shot by a Palestinian witness shows Yinon Levi brandishing a pistol and tussling with a group of unarmed Palestinians. He can be seen firing two shots, but the video does not show where the bullets hit. Witnesses said one of the shots killed Awdah Hathaleen, an English teacher and father of three, who was uninvolved and was standing nearby. The Israeli military is still holding Hathaleen's body and says it will only be returned if the family agrees to bury him in a nearby city. It said the measure was being taken to 'prevent public disorder.' The confrontation occurred on Monday in the village of Umm al-Khair, in an area of the West Bank featured in 'No Other Land,' an Oscar-winning documentary about settler violence and life under Israeli military rule. In a court decision obtained by The Associated Press, Judge Havi Toker wrote that there was 'no dispute' that Levi shot his gun in the village that day, but she said he may have been acting in self-defense and that the court could not establish that the shots killed Hathaleen. Israel's military and police did not respond to a request for comment on whether anyone else may have fired shots that day. Multiple calls placed to Levi and his lawyer have not been answered. The judge said Levi did not pose such a danger as to justify his continued house arrest but barred him from contact with the villagers for a month. Levi has been sanctioned by the United States and other Western countries over allegations of past violence toward Palestinians. President Donald Trump lifted the U.S. sanctions on Levi and other radical settlers shortly after returning to office. A total of 18 Palestinians from the village were arrested after the incident. Six remain in detention. Eitay Mack, an Israeli lawyer who has lobbied for sanctions against radical settlers, including Levi, said the court ruling did not come as a surprise. 'Automatically, Palestinian victims are considered suspects, while Jewish suspects are considered victims,' he said. Levi helped establish an settler outpost near Umm al-Khair that anti-settlement activists say is a bastion for violent settlers who have displaced hundreds since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Palestinians and rights groups have long accused Israeli authorities of turning a blind eye to settler violence, which has surged since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war , along with attacks by Palestinians. In a 2024 interview, Levi said he was protecting his own land and denied using violence. Some 70 women in Umm al-Khair said they were beginning a hunger strike on Friday to call for Hathaleen's body to be returned and for the right of his family to bury him in the village. Israel's military said in a statement to the AP that it would return the body if the family agrees to bury him in the 'nearest authorized cemetery.' Hathaleen, 31, had written and spoke out against settler violence, and had helped produce the Oscar-winning film. Supporters have erected murals in his honor in Rome, held vigils in New York and have held signs bearing his name at anti-war protests in Tel Aviv. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
