A suspected “organized crime figure” from Israel has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges alleging he ran high-stakes illegal poker games at former NBA star Gilbert Arenas’ mansion in Encino, according to court papers obtained Monday.
Yevgeni Gershman, 50, of Woodland Hills, reached an agreement with federal prosecutors last week in Los Angeles in which he will enter a plea to charges of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, making false statements in immigration documents, money laundering and weapons possession.
A date for his guilty plea has not yet been scheduled. He will first be arraigned Tuesday in downtown Los Angeles.
Prosecutors say Gershman has criminal convictions in Israel.
Gershman, Arenas and four others were arrested in July 2025 and charged with operating the illegal gambling business.
According to the indictment, Arenas rented out an Encino mansion he owned for the purpose of throwing high-stakes illegal poker games. At Arenas’ direction, Arthur Kats, 51, of West Hollywood, staged the house, found people to operate the games, and collected rent from co-conspirators on Arenas’ behalf from September 2021 to July 2022, federal prosecutors allege.
Gershman and co-defendants charged players a “rake,” that is, an illegal fee from each poker pot either as a percentage of the pot or a fixed amount per hand, the indictment contends.
Young women allegedly collected tips to serve drinks, provide massages and offer “companionship” to the poker players, prosecutors allege, and were charged a percentage of their earnings from working the games. Chefs, valets and armed security guards also were hired to staff the games, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors said the charge of lying on immigration documents lodged against Gershman stems from a suspected plan to enter into a sham marriage for the purpose of obtaining permanent legal status in the United States. Both Gershman and a Woodland Hills woman allegedly submitted false information on their U.S. immigration forms, including Gershman’s answers of “no” as to whether he had ever been detained by any law enforcement official and whether he intended to engage in illegal gambling or any other form of commercialized vice, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Arenas, 44, is best known for his time as a guard on the Washington Wizards. He last played professionally in China in 2013. In 2010, he pleaded guilty to carrying a pistol without a license after an armed confrontation in the Wizards locker room in 2009 with teammate Javaris Crittenton.
He played high school basketball at Grant High School in Valley Glen.
Arenas’ trial is currently scheduled for May 5.