JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Former Jaguars employee Amit Patel could learn Tuesday how much time he will spend behind bars after he admitted to stealing more than $22 million from the team over three years.
Federal prosecutors say Patel, 31, used the stolen millions to live a “life of luxury” that included lavish trips on private jets, a condo, a car, a luxury watch, and Jaguars and sports memorabilia worth tens of thousands of dollars. They want Patel to spend a minimum of seven years in federal prison.
But Patel’s attorneys argue that 99% of the money stolen from the Jaguars fueled Patel’s online gambling addiction, for which he’s now being treated. The defense suggested five sentencing options to the federal judge — three of which include no prison time. The harshest option his attorneys asked the judge to consider includes one year in prison.
Patel, who pleaded guilty in December to wire fraud and illegal monetary transactions, could face up to 30 years in prison.
Prosecutors said Patel spent more than $5 million of the stolen money on “personal expenses,” and released a long list of items purchased by Patel, along with photos of him on vacation.
Here are some of the places Patel made the largest purchases, in approximate amounts, according to prosecutors:
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Restaurants/Bars: $25,000
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Financial/Cryptocurrency: $2,100,000
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Individuals: $1,000,000
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The Golf Auction, LLC: $201,000
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eBay: $140,000
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Ponte Vedra Inn & Club: $78,000
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Entertainment: $300,000 (including $69,000 on Ticketmaster and $63,000 on StubHub)
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FBO Jets: $78,800
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Delta: $30,000
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Vrbo: $17,500
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Legal Fees: $275,000
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Tesla: $50,000
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BestBet: $34,000
In recommending a seven-year sentence, prosecutors said that it “would be fair and just in this case, given the immense scope of the defendant’s crimes and his recent efforts to shift the blame to his victim.”
“The defendant was a trusted and valued member of (the) Jaguars organization. He betrayed that trust and stole over $22 million through hundreds of fraudulent transactions, which he skillfully concealed for over three years. He did not need that money. He did not use it to feed his family or care for sick loved ones. He did not donate the loot to a charity or use it to perform good works. He had fun with it. He lived it up – gambling, traveling, and shopping. Under these circumstances, a lengthy prison sentence is warranted,” prosecutors wrote in the sentencing memo.
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But the defense argues that the “adverse publicity for this incident” that Patel will “endure” for decades will leave him with “a digital scarlet letter” that will impact his future.
In their arguments against prison time, Patel’s attorneys say that other than a minor drug possession charge, he has no criminal record and he’s suffered many personal hardships, including the death of his father and the murder of his uncle.
The defense also admits in the filing that Patel spent company money on online gambling at a previous job but paid it back.
“While at Deloitte, Mr. Patel had a company AMEX card and used it to incur gambling debts,” the document said. “With his brother’s help, however, he paid the bill back before detection when his brother co-signed a debt consolidation loan in the amount of $16,000.”
Patel’s defense attorneys say admitting all of this is one reason why the judge should be lenient, saying that Patel “….voluntarily surrendered information regarding similar misconduct with a prior employer that had gone undetected. This information would not have been discovered by the government without Mr. Patel’s acknowledgment.”
The scheme
Prosecutors said Patel used his role as the administrator for the Jaguars’ virtual credit card program to make hundreds of purchases and transactions with no legitimate business purpose. Then, to hide and continue to operate the scheme, he created and emailed falsified accounting records to Jaguars representatives, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Patel transferred over $17 million straight from the Jaguars VCC account to his PayPal account and directly transferred another $2.8 million and $1 million to FanDuel and DraftKings, respectively.
Now all of that money is gone.
Patel’s attorney said Patel had a gambling addiction, and ESPN reported that Patel was known as “the biggest loser ever on FanDuel.”
Prosecutors noted that Patel claimed that the only reason his scheme was not detected over the three and a half years he was doing it was because nobody at the Jaguars reviewed the credit card statements or adequately supervised him.
“This is victim-blaming at its worst,” prosecutors said. “As the MBA-trained, financial professional and the administrator of his employer’s credit card program, the defendant was the one minding the till. He was best positioned to spot the fraud. He had an obligation to structure the program to prevent losses. Instead, using insider information, he identified a vulnerability and exploited it. He stole from the company hundreds of times and went to elaborate lengths to cover it up for several years.”
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