Former Arizona Wildcat and NBA star Gilbert Arenas was arrested Wednesday, along with five other defendants, on a federal indictment alleging they operated an illegal gambling business at an Encino mansion that Arenas owned.
Arenas, 43, was 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, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California.
He will be arraigned this afternoon in U.S. District Court, in downtown Los Angeles, the news release said.
The others charged in the indictment are Yevgeni Gershman, 49; Evgenni Toureski, 48; Allan Austria, 52; Yarin Cohen, 27; and Ievgen Krachun, 43.
According to the indictment, Arenas and the other defendants operated an illegal gambling business from Sept. of 2021 to July of 2022.
Arenas rented out an Encino mansion, the news release said, for the purpose of hosting high-stakes illegal poker games.
At Arenas' direction, Arthur Kats, 51, staged the mansion to host the games, found co-conspirators to host the games, and collected rent from the co-conspirators on Arenas' behalf.
If convicted, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each count, the news release said.
According to the University of Arizona Alumni website, Arenas helped lead the Wildcats Men's Basketball Team to the Final Four. "He later became a three-time NBA All-Star, three-time member of the All-NBA Teams, and was voted the NBA Most Improved Player in the 2002–03 season," the website said.
