The former Jacksonville Jaguars employee accused of embezzling $22 million from the team has received his sentence. Amit Patel, the ex-Jaguars finance manager, is going to prison for six-and-a-half years after misusing millions in the team's money, according to The Florida Times-Union.
Patel struck a plea deal in December and admitted to wired fraud and illegal transactions. Although Patel faced up to 30 years in prison, he received only six-and-a-half years and will be supervised for three years after being released. Patel must also pay over $21 million in restitution.
Patel claimed he struggled with a gambling addiction and said he used his access to the Jaguars' "virtual credit card" as a way to fund that addiction. The deeper in the hole he got, Patel said the purchases continued to get bigger.
"Having drained my bank account, I made a terrible decision," Patel said, per the Florida Times-Union. "It began small and snowballed. ... Before I knew it, I was buying and selling everything I could to make some money."
While Patel said his crimes were the result of his gambling addiction, the prosecution painted a slightly different picture. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Coolican requested a seven-year sentence, and he said Patel "undoubtedly loves to gamble and lost the bulk of the money that he stole doing it ... But he also likes to live well and have other people pay for it."
Coolican also included pictures of Patel at the lavish Ponte Vedra Inn and a Formula 1 event in Miami as evidence that the former Jaguars employee used the money to enhance his lifestyle.
Jaguars chief legal officer, Megha Parekh, said the team feels "betrayed" by Patel's actions.
"We gave him his dream job. We trusted him," Parekh said. "He was our teammate and he betrayed us."
