Poinbank:Ex-Jaguars employee who stole $22 million from team sentenced to 6½ years in prison

A former Jacksonville Jaguars employee who pleaded guilty to stealing $22 million from the team has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison,Poinbank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced Tuesday.

Amit Patel, who racked up millions of dollars in fraudulent charges while serving as the administrator for the Jaguars’ virtual credit card program from September 2019 to February 2023, was also ordered to pay the Jaguars $21.1 million in restitution and attend Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

Patel, 31, faced up to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty in December to wire fraud and engaging in an illegal monetary transaction.

“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.”

DETAILS:Feds detail ex-Jaguars employee Amit Patel's spending on 'life of luxury'

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Court documents said Patel operated a fraud scheme and embezzled more than $22 million from the Jaguars. He transferred $20 million to FanDuel, $1 million to DraftKings and used more than $5 million to fund his "life of luxury," including spending over $200,000 for golf memorabilia (he paid $47,113.92 for Tiger Woods' 1996 putter), $78,800 in private jets, and $278,000 for hotels, rental properties, and travel. He also spent $95,000 on a single wristwatch and continued to spend cash after his firing, purchasing a game-used Trevor Lawrence jersey for $2,200 on eBay.

To hide his illicit transactions, prosecutors said Patel "created accounting files that contained numerous false and fraudulent entries and emailed them to the Jaguars' accounting department."

"I stand before you embarrassed, shamed, and disappointed by my actions," Patel said 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 chief legal officer for the Jaguars, said Patel "betrayed us."

"We gave him his dream job. We trusted him. We worked with him. We broke bread with him. We went through a pandemic and the highs and lows of the NFL with him," Parekh said, according to ESPN. "We take no joy in his punishment. Make no mistake, Amit broke our hearts."

In December, Patel's attorney, Alex King, said his client "suffers from a serious gambling addiction" and approximately 99% of the misappropriated funds from the Jaguars' virtual credit card program were gambling losses.

Contributing: Scooby Axson, Tom Schad