The man accused of stealing $22 million from the Jacksonville Jaguars pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of illegal monetary transaction in federal court on Thursday.
Amit Patel, a 31-year-old former employee of the NFL franchise, faces a maximum of 30 years in prison after he took the money to recoup losses from regularly playing high-stakes daily fantasy sports.
Patel played under the username ParlayPicker on FanDuel and DraftKings. According to an ESPN report, the DFS tracking site Rotogrinders found that Patel spent nearly $500,000 on NFL, MLB, UFC, and PGA Tour fantasy tournaments.
Patel also entered high-stakes tournaments with buy-ins of upwards of $24,000, according to ESPN, but those were not tracked.
Alex King, Patel’s lawyer, told The Athletic last week that his client had a “serious gambling addiction,” including betting on football. This led to Patel defrauding the Jaguars through the company’s virtual credit card process to subsidize his betting and DFS losses. King said “approximately 99%” of the misappropriated funds were gambling losses.
DFS struggles
How much Patel wagered and lost on football is unknown.
ESPN interviewed several DFS players who competed against ParlayPicker in tournaments. Patel was known for his loose play. There were occasions where he didn’t even submit a lineup despite paying the $3,000 entry fee.
One anonymous player believes Patel was the “biggest loser ever on FanDuel.”
According to Rotogrinders’ records, Patel last entered a tournament five months after he was fired by the Jaguars that required a buy-in of $29,000. ParlayPicker finished 129th out of 150 contestants.
Landing in hot water
Patel worked as a financial analyst for the Jaguars from 2018 until he was fired in February 2023. His DFS play is tracked back to 2017.
The Jaguars were listed as the victim of the crime in court documents, and Patel may have to pay back the stolen money to the team.
The NFL found no inside information leaks that could've led to Patel's betting, and it's unknown if he ever wagered on Jacksonville's games.
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