A former Miami Heat security guard pleaded guilty Tuesday in Florida to transporting and transferring stolen items in interstate commerce, in connection to the tens of millions of {dollars} value of memorabilia he was alleged to have stolen from the workforce.
Advertisement
Marcos Thomas Perez, 62, is a retired 25-year veteran of the Miami police division and was employed by the Heat from 2016 to 2021. He also labored in security for the NBA from 2022 until this yr.
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]
Per NBC 6 South Florida, his sentencing date has been set for Oct. 31, when he will face a most penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of probation and a nice of up to $250,000. His lawyer reportedly hopes his years in law enforcement will encourage leniency:
“He’s depressed, naturally, but he accepts responsibility for his behavior and we’re gonna work through this issue in his life,” protection attorney Robert Buschel said after the listening to.
“I hope that the judge will consider all factors in his life and his history as a good person, he was an exemplary police officer in the City of Miami, he’s been retired for close to 10 years,” Buschel said. “This was an unfortunate set of decisions that he made and he’s going to accept responsibility for that.”
The third-most costly jersey ever bought was reportedly stolen from the Heat. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
(Mike Ehrmann via Getty Images)
It was during his time working game-day security at the Kaseya Center that Perez was alleged to have stolen lots of of game-worn jerseys and other memorabilia from a secured tools room. The objects were stored to be future displays at a Heat museum.
Advertisement
By the DOJ’s depend, Perez stole more than 400 jerseys and bought more than 100 of them online, making roughly $1.9 million over a 3 1/2-year period.
The most notable garment: a LeBron James jersey worn in the NBA Finals, bought for roughly $100,000 and was later auctioned off at Sotheby’s for $3.7 million. That jersey would be the one James wore during the Heat’s win in Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals, in which the famous person earned his second title and Finals MVP award. At the time, it was the third-highest price ever acquired for a game-worn jersey, behind a Michael Jordan jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals ($10.91 million) and Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” jersey ($9.28 million).
Advertisement
Law enforcement reportedly executed a search warrant at Perez’s home in April and recovered almost 300 items of memorabilia, all of which the the Heat confirmed to have come from their facility.
Source hyperlink
