Former Jacksonville Jaguars employee Amit Patel is not contesting that he embezzled money from the team. He pleaded guilty to a plea deal that consisted of two counts on Thursday. Patel’s plea includes one count of wire fraud and one count of engaging in an illegal monetary transaction.
With the plea, Patel could be sentenced to as many as 30 years in prison. Per the plea agreement, the government will advice a certain amount of leniency in sentencing given that Patel accepted culpability, but the judge is under no mandate to adhere to those recommendations.
As part of the agreement, Patel has agreed to make full restitution to the team. He could also face up to $500,000 in fines related to his charges. Patel has agreed to the civil asset forfeiture of his Florida condo valued at $265,000, a 2021 Tesla valued at $40,625 dollars, and a Patek Philippe Nautilus watch valued at $82,000.
These forfeitures account for less than 2% of the money Patel owes.
Patel’s lawyer previously put out a statement when the charges were filed against his client noting that, while the criminal complaint cited homes, cars, and other purchases by Patel, his client allegedly lost the vast majority of the funds playing DFS contests on FanDuel and DraftKings. He also noted that Patel had entered an in-patient treatment facility for his gambling addiction earlier this year.
In reporting by ESPN. the outlet determined that Patel played under the screenname ParlayPicker and was known amongst regular players as a notoriously bad player. Rotogrinders, which tracks DFS player results, shows ParlayPicker has dropped just $500,000 in buy-ins . However, the site does not track several high buy-in events which could explain the discrepancy.
