Former Heat employee pleads guilty in stolen memorabilia case

A former Heat employee accused of stealing millions of dollars in team merchandise pleaded guilty on Tuesday to transporting and transferring stolen memorabilia across state lines, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced, according to the Sun Sentinel.

Marcos Tomas Perez, 62, "stole hundreds of game-worn jerseys and other valuable memorabilia belonging to the Miami Heat and sold them to online brokers," the government said in a statement.

Perez entered a guilty plea to a single count of criminal information before a district judge in Miami. He was arrested on Aug. 5 after investigators searched his home.

The judge scheduled a sentencing hearing for Oct. 31, according to court records. Perez faces a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250K fine, but a pre-sentencing investigation by the court’s probation office will produce a recommendation under sentencing guidelines for the judge, the Sentinel adds.

According to a plea agreement, Perez has cooperated with the government, which could lead to a sentence reduction.

Among the items Perez allegedly stole was LeBron James’ jersey from Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals, which he sold for approximately $100K. The jersey was later sold in 2023 at a Sotheby’s auction for $3.68M.

The federal investigation was launched in early 2024 after game-worn jerseys from James, Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade — among many other items — went missing from the Heat’s arena, the Kaseya Center.

Perez worked for the City of Miami Police Department from November 1992 until he retired in April 2016. He was employed by the Heat as a security officer from 2016-21, then worked for the NBA as a security employee from 2022 until this year.

"During his tenure, Perez worked on the game-day security detail at the Kaseya Center, where he was among a limited number of trusted individuals with access to a secured equipment room," the DOJ’s press release from earlier in August read. "This equipment room stored hundreds of game-worn jerseys and other memorabilia that the organization intended to display in a future Miami Heat museum.

"During his employment, Perez accessed the equipment room multiple times to steal over 400 game-worn jerseys and other items, which he then sold to various online marketplaces. Over a three-year period, Perez sold over 100 stolen items for approximately $2 million and shipped them across state lines, often for prices well below their market value."

Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Perez’s home in April and seized almost 300 items that the Heat confirmed had been stolen from their arena.