Gilbert Arenas arrested on charges of illegal poker games

Gilbert Arenas was arrested Wednesday in connection with a federal indictment that alleges the former NBA star hosted illegal high-stakes poker games at his mansion in Encino, California, according to a release from the United States Attorney’s Office of Central California.

Arenas is officially charged with one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, one count of operating an illegal gambling business and one count of making false statements to federal investigators.

He appeared in U.S. District Court on Wednesday afternoon in downtown Los Angeles and was released on a $50,000 bond after pleading not guilty. 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.”

Yevgeni “Giora” Gershman, a suspected high-level member of an Israeli organized crime group, and four other associates also were indicted and arrested in connection with the alleged illegal business, which prosecutors say operated from September 2021 to July 2022.

According to the indictment, Arenas rented out his Encino house and one of his associates staged the mansion for the poker games, recruited co-conspirators to host and collected rent from the co-conspirators on Arenas’ behalf.

The indictment alleges that Gershman and the other defendants ran illegal Pot Limit Omaha poker games, among others, and collected a cut from each pot contested.

Prosecutors say the group hired chefs, valets and armed security guards to staff the games — as well as young women who served drinks, provided massages and offered companionship to the poker players in exchange for tips — and that the co-conspirators took a cut of the servers’ tips.

It was unclear as of Wednesday who the players in the games were. The U.S. attorney’s office declined further comment.

If convicted, Arenas and the other defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each count.

This is not the first time Arenas has found himself in trouble relating to card games. In December 2009, Arenas and Washington Wizards teammate Javaris Crittenton were involved in an incident where they brought guns into the locker room, which Arenas later said was the result of trash talk from a card game on a team flight.

Arenas, 43, last played in the NBA in 2012 with the Memphis Grizzlies. The three-time All-Star averaged 20.7 points per game over parts of 11 seasons with the Wizards, Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors and Orlando Magic.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.