Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas has been arrested and officially charged with hosting illegal poker games with high stakes in his mansion in California.
According to the Office of the Attorney of Central California, Arenas has been charged with one count of running an illegal gambling business, especially as a sportsman, and another count of conspiracy to run an illegal business.
He has also been charged with giving untrue statements to the authorities investigating his case.
Gilbert pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was granted bail for $50,000 since it was not a violent case.
He is to appear for trial in court on September 23. Arenas has struggled with illegal gambling, and the federal authorities were going to catch up sooner or later.
This time, it was big. The former NBA player had hired Yevgeni “Giora” Gershman, a suspected Israeli criminal, to host illegal poker games in his Encino mansion. At the same time, they collected their cut from each group’s playing pot.
To describe the magnitude of the operation, Gilbert and his team also hired chefs, security, valets, and even young women to attend to the needs of the poker players and collect tips.
Gilbert and his co-conspirators also took their cuts from each of the girls’ tips. So it was a full-time illegal operation.
If Arena loses his trial on the 23rd of September, he would face a five-year maximum sentence in prison, along with his co-conspirators.
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