A former Miami Heat employee has been charged with stealing and selling millions of dollars’ worth of team memorabilia.
From 2016 to early 2025, Marcos Thomas Perez, 62, was a security guard for the Heat and the NBA when he allegedly stole more than 400 game-worn jerseys and items from a locked equipment room that contained items the organization hoped to one day showcase to its fans in a future museum, The Washington Post reports.
Prosecutors claim that Perez, who has access to the secure location, took over 100 items during a three year period and sold them to online brokers often times below market value.
According to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the Miami field office of the FBI, in his first three years with the organization, Perez often worked security on Heat game days. From 2022 to 2025, he worked as security for the NBA.
The press release notes that Perez “was among a limited number of trusted individuals with access to a secured equipment room” where “hundreds of game-worn jerseys and other memorabilia” were being stored.
The craziest example mentioned is James’ Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals jersey, which he wore when the Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs.
“Among those sales was a LeBron James Finals jersey that Perez reportedly sold for $100,000, which later sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $3.7 million—just shy of $4 million. Law enforcement searched Perez’s home on April 3 and seized nearly 300 additional jerseys and items they say were stolen,” Complex reports.
Perez, a retired Miami Police Department veteran, has been charged “with transportation of stolen goods and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted,” Complex reports. The guard appeared in federal court Tuesday, Aug. 5.
In total, it’s believed that Perez took over $4 million worth of Heat memorabilia.
See social media’s reaction to the legendary heist below.
