Former Atlanta Hawks accounting executive Lester Jones has been sentenced to three years and five months in prison for embezzling approximately $3.7 million from the team, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Georgia said in a statement Wednesday.

According to the news release, Jones misappropriated funds through fraudulent expense reimbursement requests and misuse of corporate credit cards. In addition to his prison sentence, Jones was ordered to pay more than $3.8 million in restitution, according to the statement. He faces three years of supervised release following the completion of his sentence.

“Jones turned his dream job as a high-ranking executive for the Atlanta Hawks into an opportunity to steal the team’s funds, purchasing luxury apparel, jewelry, watches, and trips for himself,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “But, for Jones and others who abuse their employers’ trust to embezzle substantial funds, the gravy train’s final destination is federal prison.”

“This case underscores the significant damage that can be caused by insider threats within an organization,” said Marlo Graham, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Jones abused his authority and access to embezzle millions, but schemes like this are not immune from detection. The FBI remains committed to investigating and disrupting financial crimes at every level.”

The Hawks declined to comment. The Athletic reached out to Jones’ attorneys for comment, and this story will be updated if they respond.

Jones, 46, was a senior vice president of financial planning and analysis until last season, when he was indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Georgia in October for using his position to enrich himself on the franchise’s account. At that time, prosecutors said Jones covered up his spending by falsifying financial reports, faking emails to legitimize transactions and ascribing his personal spending to the team. He pleaded guilty to the wire fraud charge in December 2025.

In early 2021, Jones became the sole administrator of the Hawks’ American Express corporate credit card account and supervised the credit card program, according to the attorney’s office. Jones served as the American Express contact and was the lone Hawks employee with visibility into the team’s credit card details, including the cardholders’ identities and account balances.

Jones sent a request to the team’s accounting department in January 2024 asking the franchise to pay off a $229,968.76 American Express bill for a stay at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas the month prior, when the Hawks played in the NBA Cup there. A team accountant complied. Federal prosecutors found no bill for the hotel stay, however, and said it was part of a yearslong con by Jones to steal money from the Hawks, who had employed him since 2016.

Prosecutors said Jones used his position to build a lavish lifestyle for himself. He was in a romantic relationship with another team employee, who also no longer works for the team, according to multiple league sources, and he used some of the money he was accused of stealing to buy her expensive gifts. He controlled the team’s American Express card account and could authorize charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s statement, and activated multiple corporate cards for himself. He also used those cards for luxery personal expenses, including approximately $80,000 for travel to the Bahamas and Thailand, $99,800 in Saks Fifth Avenue apparel, a $115,795.01 diamond ring, $21,888.90 in Omega watches and more than $160,000 in concert tickets and other events.

The FBI investigated the case.

— Mike Vorkunov, Sam Amick and Joe Vardon contributed to this report.