A former Miami Heat security guard pleaded guilty Tuesday in Florida to transporting and transferring stolen goods in interstate commerce, in connection to the millions of dollars worth of memorabilia he was alleged to have stolen from the team.
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Marcos Thomas Perez, 62, is a retired 25-year veteran of the Miami police department and was employed by the Heat from 2016 to 2021. He also worked in security for the NBA from 2022 until this year.
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Per NBC 6 South Florida, his sentencing date has been set for Oct. 31, when he will face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of probation and a fine 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,” defense attorney Robert Buschel said after the hearing.
“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 expensive jersey ever sold 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 hundreds of game-worn jerseys and other memorabilia from a secured equipment room. The items were kept to be future exhibits at a Heat museum.
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By the DOJ’s count, Perez stole more than 400 jerseys and sold more than 100 of them online, making approximately $1.9 million over a 3 1/2-year period.
The most notable garment: a LeBron James jersey worn in the NBA Finals, sold 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 superstar earned his second title and Finals MVP award. At the time, it was the third-highest price ever received 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).
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Law enforcement reportedly executed a search warrant at Perez’s home in April and recovered nearly 300 pieces of memorabilia, all of which the the Heat confirmed to have come from their facility.