A former Jacksonville Jaguars employee who pled guilty to stealing $22 million from the team has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced on Tuesday.
Amit Patel, who racked up millions of dollars in fraudulent purchases while operating as the Jaguars’ virtual credit card administrator from September 2019 to February 2023, was also sentenced to pay the Jaguars $21.1 million in restitution and attend Gamblers Anonymous meetings.
Patel, 31, faced up to 30 years in jail after pleading guilty in December to wire fraud and illicit monetary transactions.
“Today, the IRS intercepted Patel’s playbook and achieved justice for the American public,” IRS-CI Acting Special Agent in Charge Lani Rosado-Espinal said in a statement. “Patel deceived the Jacksonville Jaguars and used his position of trust to steal from the team, gamble on games and fund a lavish lifestyle.”
According to court records, Patel engaged in a fraud conspiracy and embezzled more than $22 million from the Jaguars. He transferred $20 million to FanDuel, $1 million to DraftKings, and spent more than $5 million on his “life of luxury,” which included over $200,000 in golf memorabilia (he paid $47,113.92 for Tiger Woods’ 1996 putter), $78,800 in private jets, and $278,000 on hotels, rental properties, and travel. He also spent $95,000 on a single wristwatch and continued to spend money after being fired, buying a game-used Trevor Lawrence shirt for $2,200 off eBay.
To conceal his illegal activities, authorities claim Patel “created accounting files that contained numerous false and fraudulent entries and emailed them to the Jaguars’ accounting department.”
“I stand before you embarrassed, ashamed, and disappointed by my actions,” Patel stated during the sentencing hearing, according to ESPN. “I can never truly convey how sorry I am to everyone affected by my actions.”
During the hearing, Megha Parekh, senior vice president and top legal officer for the Jaguars, stated that Patel “betrayed us.”
“We gave him his ideal job. We trusted him. We worked with him. We shared a meal with him. “We went through a pandemic and the NFL’s highs and lows with him,” Parekh told ESPN. “We have no joy in his punishment. Make no mistake: Amit broke our hearts.
Patel’s attorney, Alex King, stated in December that his client “suffers from a serious gambling addiction” and that gaming losses accounted for around 99% of the plundered monies from the Jaguars’ virtual credit card program.
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