JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A former Jacksonville Jaguars financial manager who pled guilty to stealing more than $22 million from the NFL franchise through its virtual credit card program was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison Tuesday.
Judge Henry Lee Adams Jr. sentenced Amit Patel, 31, in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville. Patel, wearing a charcoal suit and a burgundy tie, showed no emotion inside the packed courthouse as the punishment was handed down.
Prosecutors said Patel has returned $1.89 million, leaving his restitution tab at $21,132,454.40 — a figure the judge acknowledged he will never be able to pay back following a felony conviction. Patel pled guilty in December to one count of wire fraud and one count of making an illegal monetary transaction.
The judge sentenced Patel to 78 months on each count, to run concurrently. It was the lowest number under sentencing guidelines. He also got three years of supervised release.
Patel’s lawyer argued for a lighter sentence Tuesday, asking for no more than 60 months. Prosecutors countered and detailed how Patel used “insider information” to go unnoticed for 40 months (between 2019 and 2023) while making hundreds of fraudulent transactions.
“If he can steal $22 million and get probation, he’s going to do it again,” assistant U.S. attorney Michael J. Coolican argued. “He’s a smart guy and will find a way. … If it’s reported on SportsCenter tonight you can steal $22 million and get a low-ball sentence, a slap on the wrist, you better watch out.”
Patel had roughly two dozen friends and family members in the courthouse. Four of them spoke on his behalf: his older brother, an uncle, a former high school teacher and his girlfriend.
Patel wiped away tears as his brother detailed his younger sibling’s alcohol abuse and gambling addiction, as his uncle told the court what a prison sentence would do to Patel’s widowed mother, as his former teacher called him a model student and as his girlfriend…
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