Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, 5
others charged with running illegal poker games at his LA mansion
[July 31, 2025]
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas was arrested
Wednesday along with five other people, including a suspected member
of an Israeli organized crime group, on suspicion of hosting illegal
high-stakes poker games at a Los Angeles mansion owned by Arenas,
federal prosecutors said.
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 were all scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday
afternoon.
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.
Arenas appeared in court Wednesday afternoon in downtown Los Angeles
and was released on a $50,000 bond after pleading not guilty to the
charges. His trial is scheduled for Sept. 23.
His attorney Jerome Friedberg said outside the courthouse that he
hadn't had much time to speak with his client and couldn't comment
on the case.
“At this point in the case, he is presumed innocent, right?”
Friedberg said. “He has the same right as any other citizen to that
presumption and that's how he should be treated.”
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.
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Attorney Jerome Friedberg, left, talks to the media as he walks out
of the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles, on
Wednesday, July 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
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.
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