Chicago – A former Georgia Warehouse worker for Augusta National Golf Club was sentenced to a year in prison on Wednesday for transporting millions of dollars in memories of the stolen master’s tournament, including one of the iconic green jackets of Arnold Palmer.
Richard Globensky, 40, declared himself guilty last year of a transport charge of stolen goods through state lines. He appeared Wednesday at the Federal Court of Chicago with a suit and red tie. With his parents and his wife sitting in the courtroom behind him, he apologized for his actions before the American district judge Sharon Johnson Coleman issued the sentence.
“I deeply regret the decision that led me to this moment,” he said, his voice that broke. “I have assumed all the responsibility of my actions and I am still committed to doing everything within my reach to make peace.”
Globensky and his lawyer did not answer the questions of the journalists when they left the Federal Court.
According to the sentence, he will also have to pay more than $ 3 million in restitution and face a year of supervised release.
Federal prosecutors had sought a 16 -month sentence, while defense lawyers wanted probation.
Globensky took warehouse articles for vendors in Florida, who later sold them online in a marking, according to prosecutors. Globensky was paid through a limited liability company established in the name of his wife, among other ways. The scheme lasted more than a decade, which earned it more than $ 5 million.
“The violation of trust was very serious and continuous,” said Brian Hayes, an assistant prosecutor from the United States, in the Court.
Even so, he pointed out how Globensky cooperated in the ongoing research, providing text messages between him and a third. Judicial documents only identify the third as “individual A”, along with an associated “individual” B. Hayes said that Globensky also preventively sold his home and gave the government profits.
The articles, which were stolen between 2009 and 2022, included historical memories such as Master’s Tournaments in the 1930s, as well as t -shirts, cups and chairs, according to prosecutors. Among the legendary stolen green jackets were those won by Palmer, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.
Some of the stolen assets recovered in the Chicago area, so the judicial case was in the court court.
Globensky, who had worked in the warehouse since 2007, would secretly photograph items and send them to a Florida -based vendor. Globensky then slippery articles in which they were interested, taking small amounts to avoid the risk of AUGUSTA National audit practices, according to judicial documents. The items were hidden in a storage installation outside the site and sent.
Prosecutors say that money was used to finance a luxurious lifestyle, including $ 370,000 to buy vehicles and a boat, $ 160,000 for Disney theme vacations and $ 32,000 for items in Louis Vuitton, according to judicial documents made public made at the beginning of this month.
In the Court, the defense lawyer of Globensky, Thomas Church, said it was not uncommon for employees to occasionally take articles from the warehouse, his client had expressed regret and it was not a danger to the public.
“This is not a case in which it was and broke into any vaults. He did not manipulate any data or accessed any electronic data,” Church said in court, explaining that his client saw the opportunity to take articles that were destroyed or not sold.
The total loss against Augusta National was more than $ 3 million, according to prosecutors.
A National spokesman for Augusta asked for comments on Wednesday on Wednesday pointed out a statement of impact of the victim presented to the court during the hearing.
“We were severely disappointed to know for several years that a former National Employee of Augusta betrayed that principle, and our trust, stealing from the club, tournament and even a series of legends whose achievements in the masters and in the golf game are venerated by all,” said Augusta National in La Charter. “In summary, the employee obtained a significant personal gain without taking into account the impact that his selfishness would have on the club, the players, the tournament and their co -workers.”
Augusta National organizes the annual golf tournament every year in April, which Scottie Scheffler won last year.
Palmer, who died in 2016 at age 87, won four green jackets. The introduction of golf to the masses is widely attributed and hit the ceremonial shirt blow every year in the masters for years after he stopped playing in the tournament in 2004.
Obtaining a ticket for masters also gives fans the opportunity to buy exclusive goods that is not officially sold online. But the Green Jackets are particularly monitored by the Georgia company that has the Augusta National Golf Club and the Golf Masters tournament.
The company demanded in 2017 to prevent a golf memories company from auctioning the articles, including the green jacket of a champion.
Augusta National Inc. filed a federal lawsuit against the Florida -based auction company that seeks to prevent the green jacket of a champion and two member green jackets from seeing, along with other items.
