Amit Patel, a former employee of the Jacksonville Jaguars who stole $22 million from the team, has been sentenced to 78 months in prison.
The sentence was handed down Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Patel admitted to wire fraud and illegal money transactions in a December plea deal.
Patel, 31, worked for the Jaguars from 2018-23.
While employed by the team, Patel made purchases on Jacksonville’s virtual credit card and covered them up in monthly tracking reports.
Per a detailed December report from Kalyn Kahler and Katie Strang of The Athletic, Patel used the money “to buy vehicles, a condominium and a designer watch worth over $95,000 … he also purchased cryptocurrency, splurged on luxury travel for himself and others and used the funds to keep a criminal defense lawyer on retainer.”
Notably, Patel used a substantial amount of the stolen money to play daily fantasy sports games. ESPN reported in February that the Jaguars asked FanDuel to reimburse the team for “some or all of the $20 million” he spent on the platform, but FanDuel has been reluctant to comply.
