Ex-Atlanta Hawks executive gets federal prison time in $3.7M fraud scheme
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A former Atlanta Hawks executive is headed to federal prison after prosecutors said he stole millions of dollars from the NBA franchise to fund a lavish lifestyle filled with luxury shopping, expensive trips, jewelry, and entertainment.
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Federal officials announced that Lester T. Jones Jr., the Hawks’ former Senior Vice President of Finance, was sentenced to three years and five months in prison for embezzling $3.7 million from the organization.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, Jones submitted fraudulent expense reimbursement requests and misused corporate credit cards to carry out the scheme over several years.
Prosecutors said Jones joined the Hawks’ Accounting and Finance Department in 2016 and later became the organization’s top accounting executive, reporting to the Chief Financial Officer, after his promotion in 2021.
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Authorities said Jones eventually gained full control over the team’s corporate American Express program and reimbursement system, giving him access to account balances, employee credit cards and expense approvals.
Investigators said Jones used that authority to secretly funnel money to himself from early 2021 through June 2025.
According to court documents, Jones submitted dozens of fake reimbursement requests and charged personal expenses to corporate credit cards while covering up the transactions through false representations to other employees.
Federal prosecutors said the stolen money paid for luxury purchases and extravagant travel, including:
- $80,000 in trips to the Bahamas and Thailand
- $99,800 in apparel from Saks Fifth Avenue
- A diamond ring worth $115,795.01
- $21,888.90 in Omega watches
- Over $160,000 in concert and event tickets
“Jones turned his dream job as a high-ranking executive for the Atlanta Hawks into an opportunity to steal the team’s funds,” U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a statement.
Jones, 46, of Atlanta, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in December 2025. In addition to prison time, he was ordered to pay nearly $3.9 million in restitution and will serve three years of supervised release after completing his sentence.
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