A former, long-time Miami Heat security officer appeared in court Tuesday, charged with transporting and transferring stolen goods in interstate commerce.
Following an investigation by the FBI’s Miami office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida, charged Marcos Thomas Perez, 62, of Miami, with allegedly “stealing millions of dollars’ worth of Miami Heat game-worn jerseys and other valuable memorabilia, which he later sold to online brokers.” Perez is a 25-year veteran of the Miami Police Department who worked as a security officer for the Heat from 2016 to 2021 and then worked as an NBA security employee from 2022 until earlier this year. From the U.S. Attorney’s press release:
“Perez worked on the game-day security detail at the Kaseya Center, where he was among a limited number of trusted individuals with access to a secured equipment room. This equipment room stored hundreds of game-worn jerseys and other memorabilia that the organization intended to display in a future Miami Heat museum.”
Perez is accused of stealing more than 400 game-worn jerseys and other memorabilia, some of which he then sold online — about 100 of those items were sold, many over state lines, which added to the charge against him. What’s more, because he was trying to do this relatively low-key, he was often selling items for well below market value.
“As an example, Perez sold a game-worn LeBron James Miami Heat NBA Finals jersey for approximately $100,000. That same jersey later sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $3.7 million,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a press release.
Police executed a search warrant at Perez’s home on April 3 and recovered about 300 more items of memorabilia, which the Heat confirmed had come from their equipment room.
