Atlanta Hawks exec sentenced to prison for embezzling millions for luxury personal items

Authorities announced Wednesday that former Atlanta Hawks finance executive Lester T. Jones Jr.

ATLANTA — Authorities announced Wednesday that former Atlanta Hawks finance executive Lester T. Jones Jr. was sentenced to three years and five months in prison for embezzling approximately $3.7 million from the team through fraudulent expense reimbursement requests and misuse of corporate credit cards.

Subscribe to read this story ad-free

Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.

Federal prosecutors said in a court filing in November that Jones, a former Hawks accounting executive, used the money to pay for travel, luxury apparel, jewelry, car expenses and tickets to concerts and sporting events.

Jones pleaded guilty to wire fraud in December.