MIAMI – Marcos Thomas Perez, a former Miami Heat security officer, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to transporting and transferring millions of dollars in stolen jerseys and other valuables.
Perez, 62, was a retired veteran of the Miami Police Department, where he served for 25 years. He worked for the Heat between 2016 and 2021, and as an NBA security employee from 2022 to 2025.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the FBI in Miami, Perez stole more than 400 jerseys and other items from a secure equipment room, selling the items through various online marketplaces. He had access to the secure room due to his job in the game day security device at the Kaseya Center.
He was one of the few employees with access to the secure room where the Heat organization kept the memorabilia it planned to exhibit in a future team museum.
Authorities report that, over a period of three years, Perez sold more than 100 stolen items for approximately $1.9 million, sending them across state lines, often at bargain prices.
It is said that he sold a Miami Heat jersey that LeBron James wore during the NBA Finals for approximately $100,000. That jersey later sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $3.7 million.
