Man gets prison time for defrauding NESN of $575,000

A Connecticut man was sentenced in federal court in Boston on Tuesday for fraudulently obtaining over $500,000 from his former employer, New England Sports Network, or NESN, according to federal authorities in Massachusetts.

Ariel Legassa, 52, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to a total of 42 months in prison and three years of supervised release, according to federal authorities in Massachusetts. He also was ordered to pay restitution, forfeit $580,000 and pay a $1,000 special assessment.

Legassa was convicted of seven counts of mail fraud and three counts of unlawful monetary transactions November 2023.

Authorities did not say where Legassa now lives.

“This was brazen fraud driven by the defendant’s greed. Mr. Legassa violated the faith NESN placed in him as a senior executive to circumvent the company’s internal controls and line his own pocket,” said acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy in a statement. “This type of criminal conduct is not just about the stolen money. The abuse of trust inherent in these types of sophisticated white- collar schemes leaves a trail of victims.”

Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, said, “Supplementing your paycheck by scamming your employer is a really bad career move. But Ariel Legassa did exactly that, taking advantage of the trust NESN placed in him to steal over $575,000, which he used to fund a lavish lifestyle.”

“Justice demands that financial fraudsters like Legassa be held accountable for their crimes and today’s sentence ensures that he will pay for what he did with prison time and restitution,” Cohen said, also in a statement.

Authorities said that from about December 2020 to January 2022, Legassa “orchestrated a scheme to defraud NESN,” including that he “negotiated a contract with a New York company to provide web development services for NESN” and “created a fake business under the same name as the new vendor. He then used this company to receive fraudulent payments from NESN.”

“In total, NESN paid Legassa’s fake company over $500,000. Legassa spent the funds on personal expenses, including a private plane, a Tesla, a BMW, a Land Rover and credit card bills. He also transferred the funds into other accounts under his control,” federal authorities in Massachusetts said in the statement.