Former Miami Heat Security Officer Admits to Trafficking Stolen Team Memorabilia
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MIAMI — A former Miami Heat security employee pleaded guilty Tuesday to moving and selling stolen team merchandise across state lines, federal prosecutors said.
Marcos Tomas Perez, 62, entered the plea before a U.S. district judge in Miami to one count of transporting and transferring stolen goods. Investigators say Perez took hundreds of game-worn jerseys and other memorabilia from the Heat’s arena and funneled them to online brokers.
Perez was arrested on Aug. 5 after agents searched his residence. Court records show sentencing is set for Oct. 31. He faces a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, though a presentence report will guide the judge’s final decision. Prosecutors noted that Perez is cooperating under a plea agreement, which could reduce his sentence.
Among the items he admitted stealing was LeBron James’s jersey from Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals, sold for roughly $100,000. That jersey later fetched $3.68 million at a Sotheby’s auction in 2023.
The federal investigation began in early 2024 after game-worn jerseys belonging to James, Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade and others disappeared from the Kaseya Center. Perez, a former City of Miami police officer (1992–2016), worked as a Heat security officer from 2016 to 2021 and then for the NBA’s security staff from 2022 until this year.
Prosecutors said Perez was part of a small group with access to a secured equipment room that stored memorabilia earmarked for a future Heat museum. Over three years, he allegedly removed more than 400 jerseys and other items, selling at least 100 pieces for about $2 million, often below market value, and shipping them to buyers in other states.
Agents executing a search warrant at his home in April recovered nearly 300 items the Heat later confirmed were taken from the arena.
Source: Hoops Rumors
