A former Miami Heat security officer is at the center of a multi-million dollar heist of game-worn gear that involved the theft of more than 400 items, including a $3.7 million LeBron James jersey from team facilities, the U.S. Department of Justice alleges.
Per the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida, 62-year-old Marcos Thomas Perez of Miami appeared in federal court Tuesday to face a charge of transporting and transferring stolen goods in interstate commerce.
The news arrives days after NBA analyst Amin Elhassan reported on the “The Dan LeBatard Show” that the Heat had been robbed of millions of dollars in memorabilia in “one of the largest, if not the largest, memorabilia heists in the history of this country.”
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Per the DOJ, Perez worked as a security officer for the Heat from 2016 to 2021 and later worked as a security staffer for the NBA from 2022-25. A 25-year retired veteran of the Miami Police Department, Perez was trusted by the Heat with access to a secure equipment room in the Heat’s home arena that stored hundreds of game-worn jerseys and other memorabilia that was intended for display in a Heat museum that has yet to be built, according to the DOJ.
LeBron James’ game-worn jersey from Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals that sold at auction for $3.7 million appears to have been a part of a years-long heist allegedly conducted by a former Heat security staffer.
(BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI via Getty Images)
The DOJ alleges that Perez repeatedly accessed the room over the course of his employment and stole “400 game-worn jerseys and other items,” then sold them across multiple internet marketplaces, frequently for below market value. Per the DOJ, Perez sold more than 100 stolen items for approximately $2 million.
One of the items that Perez stole was a game-worn LeBron James jersey from the NBA Finals that he sold for $100,000 and was later sold at auction for $3.7 million, the DOJ alleges. That jersey appears to be James’ jersey from Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals in which the Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs and James was named Finals MVP after securing his second NBA title.
At the time of the auction, it was the third-highest price ever secured for a game-worn jersey, behind a Michael Jordan 1998 NBA Finals jersey ($10.91 million) and Argentinian soccer legend Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” jersey ($9.28 million).
It wasn’t reported who bought the jersey at that price, but it was sold via a legitimate auction conducted by Sotheby’s.
Per the DOJ, a search of Perez’s residence on April 3 resulted in the recovery of nearly 300 other game-worn jerseys and pieces of memorabilia. The Heat confirmed that the items were stolen from their facilities, according to the DOJ.
The FBI is continuing to investigate the matter. The DOJ did not announce what type of penalty Perez faces if he’s convicted. The Heat have not publicly acknowledged the alleged heist.
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