Ex-Heat Security Guard Pleads Guilty in $2M Memorabilia Heist
LeBron James' stolen Finals jersey at center of guilty plea scandal.
A former Miami Heat security officer quietly cashed out on some of the franchise’s most valuable memorabilia and is now paying the price.
According to reports on Tuesday, Marcos Thomas Perez, a retired 25-year Miami police veteran, entered a guilty plea in federal court for transporting stolen memorabilia across state lines.
With this week’s guilty plea, the outlook for the former security worker is bleak.
Perez now faces sentencing under federal law, which carries penalties of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
A game between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat at Kaseya Center on April 29, 2024 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
From 2016 to 2021, Perez had access to the Heat’s secured equipment room at the Kaseya Center, home to game-worn jerseys and other memorabilia earmarked for a future Heat museum.
Over five years, Perez walked away with more than 400 items, including jerseys worn by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
Then, over a three-year stretch, Perez netted about $2 million by pricing the Heat memorabilia well below its worth.
One LeBron Finals jersey that he sold for $100,000 was later auctioned for $3.7 million.
MIAMI - LeBron James of the Miami Heat celebrates after defeating the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 to win Game Seven of the 2013 NBA Finals at AmericanAirlines Arena on June 20, 2013. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
After leaving the Heat, Perez continued working in NBA security until 2025, still under the radar. That came to an end on April 3, when federal agents raided his home and recovered nearly 300 more jerseys and memorabilia.
Perez turned trust into profit, and the cost will be measured not only in prison time but in the damage done to the franchise’s legacy.
Now, as the FBI retraces the journey of each stolen item and the Heat scramble to reclaim pieces of their history, a larger question looms …
What else in the billion-dollar world of professional sports might be slipping through the cracks?
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