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Ex-Suns Employee Jeffrey Marcussen to Pay $458K to Team for Illicitly Selling Tickets
April 26, 2022
Jeffrey Marcussen, a former Phoenix Suns ticket manager who worked for the team from 2004 to 2019, has pleaded guilty to illicitly selling over 2,800 of the team's tickets through a third party during his final years of employment with the organization.
According to ESPN's Baxter Holmes, Marcussen has agreed to pay $458,218 to the Suns in restitution as part of his plea agreement filed in Maricopa County Superior Court. Marcussen is scheduled to be sentenced on June 7 on felony fraud and theft charges, which together carry a maximum sentence of 13 years in prison.
Per Holmes, prosecutors have asked for probation with a year in jail at the most in the plea agreement submitted to the judge. In addition to the sum he's paying to the Suns, Marcussen also has to pay $1,780 to the Arizona Attorney General's anti-racketeering revolving fund and $11,818 to the Arizona Department of Revenue.
Marcussen was indicted on four felonies, including two for filing false tax returns, in September 2020. He allegedly sold tickets on StubHub without authorization, while the Suns do not use the platform to sell their tickets.
"StubHub contacted the NBA when it discovered five different Stub Hub accounts all linked to the Defendant," prosecutors wrote in November 2020, responding to Marcussen's motion to modify his release conditions and to travel out of state. "After an internal audit by the Phoenix Suns Organization, which included a confession by the Defendant, law enforcement investigated the case."
Marcussen's legal issues are not tied to the NBA's investigation into the Phoenix Suns and majority owner Robert Sarver.
