A former Atlanta Hawks executive has been sentenced to federal prison after admitting to a yearslong scheme that siphoned millions of dollars from the franchise, per WBS-TV.
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Lester T. Jones Jr., 46, was sentenced to three years and five months after pleading guilty to wire fraud, federal officials said. Prosecutors said Jones embezzled about $3.7 million while serving as the team's Senior Vice President of Finance.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia, Jones used his position to submit fraudulent expense reimbursements and misuse corporate credit cards over several years.
He joined the Hawks' accounting and finance department in 2016 and was promoted in 2021, a role that gave him greater control over expense approvals and the team's corporate credit card program.
Authorities said that access allowed him to move money to himself from early 2021 through June 2025 without detection.
Court documents detail a pattern of personal spending that included luxury travel, high-end retail purchases, jewelry and entertainment. Among the expenses cited were tens of thousands of dollars in trips to the Bahamas and Thailand, nearly $100,000 in apparel purchases, a diamond ring valued at more than $115,000 and significant spending on watches and event tickets.
"Jones turned his position into an opportunity to steal the team's funds," U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a statement.
In addition to his prison sentence, Jones was ordered to pay nearly $3.9 million in restitution and will serve three years of supervised release.
