LeBron James Jersey Stolen and Sold for $4 Million at Auction, Says DOJ

Federal prosecutors have charged a former Miami Heat employee with stealing hundreds of pieces of team memorabilia that later fetched nearly $4 million at auction.

The Washington Post reports that Marcos Thomas Perez, 62, worked as a security guard for the Heat and the NBA from 2016 to early 2025 and allegedly removed more than 400 game-worn jerseys and other items from a secured equipment room. The room housed memorabilia that the organization planned to showcase in a future team museum.

Prosecutors allege that Perez sold more than 100 items to online brokers for approximately $2 million, often at prices significantly below market value. Among those sales was a LeBron James Finals jersey that Perez reportedly sold for $100,000, which later sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $3.7 million—just shy of $4 million. Law enforcement searched Perez’s home on April 3 and seized nearly 300 additional jerseys and items they say were stolen.

Perez, a retired Miami Police Department veteran, made his initial appearance in federal court in Miami on Tuesday, August 5. He is charged with transportation of stolen goods and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. An attorney for Perez could not be immediately identified, and a representative for the Heat did not respond to a request for comment.

The alleged thefts mirror another high-profile sports memorabilia case from earlier this year: a former Augusta National Golf Club employee was sentenced to one year in prison after admitting to stealing Masters merchandise and selling it to online brokers over approximately 13 years.

James played four seasons with the Heat and won two championships with the franchise, in 2012 and 2013. The case is United States v. Perez, No. 25-cr-20346, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.