See for yourself the lavish lifestyle of Amit Patel, to be sentenced for scamming Jaguars
New documents detail what federal prosecutors called a "life of luxury" lived by Amit Patel, the fired Jacksonville Jaguars finance manager who swindled about $22 million from the organization over a few years.
In December he pleaded guilty to federal charges of wire fraud and engaging in illegal monetary actions. He is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Jacksonville.
Prosecutors say Patel, 31, used the stolen money to stay at luxury hotels, charter private jets, buy sports memorabilia and bet and lose millions on sports.
Dozens of newly released “sentencing memorandum” documents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office show pictures of Patel relishing in lavish trips to the Miami Grand Prix, Sea Island and London for a Jaguars game all in 2022 followed by trips to Kansas City the next year for the Jaguars’ playoff game and Fort Lauderdale for the Pegasus World Cup also in 2023.
Photos also show him playing golf at the Ponte Vedra Beach Inn and Club where he spent over $77,000, including a $25,581 initiation fee.
Prosecutors say Patel used his role as the administrator for the Jaguars virtual credit card program to make hundreds of purchases and created fake accounting records to hide what he was doing.
Patel is accused of using $21 million of the $22 million on sports gambling sites. In December, Patel’s attorney said about 99% of the funds were gambling losses.
But prosecutors said he didn’t lose all the money gambling and Patel transferred over $5 million to his personal accounts.
They said he spent $278,000 for hotels rental properties and travel, including $78,800 on private jet charters. He also spent over $200,000 for golf memorabilia, including $47,114 for Tiger Woods' 1996 U.S. Amateur Champion Scotty Cameron putter, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
When he pleaded guilty, Patel said he suffered from a gambling addiction. One daily fantasy sports gambler who was familiar with Patel told ESPN he was known as “the biggest loser ever on FanDuel.”
His attorney Alex King has previously said he is being treated for the addiction. He said Patel is remorseful and apologizes.
Federal court records also show that Dr. Scott Teitelbaum, medical director at UF Health Florida Recovery Center, is scheduled to testify at Patel’s sentencing. He leads a team of highly specialized addiction medicine physicians, according to UF Health.
The prosecution said he is playing the victim and "lived it up, gambling, traveling and shopping."
Now that Patel has pleaded guilty, he will have to forfeit property to government valuing up to $22 million -- the amount he admitted to stealing. Documents say this property includes his Ponte Vedra condo, 2021 Tesla and Nautilus watch.
An Uber customer said Patel was his driver in a Tesla while in town for the Jaguars Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The plea agreement calls for a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. Prosecutors recommend a seven-year sentence, according to Times-Union news partner First Coast News, who also reached out to Patel's attorney but had not heard back at that time.
Times-Union Metro Editor Scott Butler and First Coast News reporter Andrew Badillo contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Photos show Amit Patel, the Jacksonville Jaguars' arrested manager