A longtime Atlanta Hawks executive has pleaded guilty in a federal fraud case, after prosecutors alleged that he stole more than $3.8 million from the NBA team over several years.

Lester T. Jones Jr., the Hawks’ former Senior Vice President of Finance, changed his plea to guilty in federal court. A sentencing date has been set for March 24, 2026, according to court records.

Federal prosecutors charged Jones with one count of wire fraud, alleging he carried out the scheme from at least May 2017 through June 2025 while working in the team’s accounting and finance department.

Jones joined the Hawks organization in 2016 and eventually became the most senior accounting executive under the team’s chief financial officer. Prosecutors say he used his position and access to the team’s bank accounts, expense reimbursement system, and corporate American Express cards to divert team funds for personal use.

According to court documents, Jones submitted — or directed others to submit — fraudulent expense reports, often using fake or altered invoices to seek reimbursement for expenses that never occurred. Prosecutors also allege he charged millions of dollars in personal expenses to company credit cards.

Those charges allegedly included luxury travel to destinations such as the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Switzerland, and Thailand, along with purchases from Louis Vuitton, Porsche-related expenses, jewelry, and sports and concert tickets.

Federal filings say Jones attempted to conceal the scheme by manipulating financial reports, altering emails, and falsely attributing large credit card balances to legitimate team operations.

Prosecutors also allege Jones exploited a weakness in the Hawks’ expense reimbursement system that, prior to July 2024, did not display actual corporate credit card transactions to employees responsible for processing reimbursements.

One example cited in court records involves a January 2025 incident in which Jones allegedly submitted a fake invoice totaling $229,968 for a team event at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. Prosecutors say no such event or charge ever occurred. They allege Jones forwarded an altered American Express email to colleagues, approved the reimbursement himself, and then used the funds to pay off personal credit card charges.

As part of the case, Jones will be required to forfeit any money or property connected to the fraud, according to prosecutors.

The case is being handled in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

CBS News Atlanta reached out to the Atlanta Hawks organization for comment. The team declined to comment.

She’s cheer captain, and he’s in the bleachers. 

Bill Belichick was in Atlanta over the weekend to cheer on his 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, during a cheerleading competition, TMZ reported. 

Hudson was competing for Code Black, which she cheered for in a Cheer Extreme All-Stars event in Raleigh, North Carolina, in November.

Belichick sported a button-down shirt, jeans and a Navy submarine cap, while Hudson donned the Code Black uniform, as did the rest of her teammates. 

Photos published by the outlet showed the two all smiles as they stood next to one another. 

Hudson had also posted a video of part of the routine Code Black performed during the first day of the competition. 

Belichick has not been shy about supporting his younger paramour since their relationship became public over the summer of 2024. 

The University of North Carolina football coach, and six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach, attended the cheer competition in November and was there to support Hudson at the Miss Maine USA pageant earlier this year. 

Hudson has been there to support Belichick throughout his first season at the helm at UNC, which drew plenty of headlines off the field. 

The relationship between the 73-year-old and Hudson has generated plenty of interest and drama, aside from Belichick going 4-8 in his first season at UNC and repeated questions about whether he would leave the football program. Belichick ended up making major staff changes after the season.

Hudson created waves earlier this year when she stepped in during a “CBS Sunday Morning” interview when Belichick was asked how the pair met, creating weeks of headlines. 

More recently, she has been in a back-and-forth with investigative sports journalist Pablo Torre – at one point claiming she would sue him – and last month The Post reported that Jen Belichick, the daughter-in-law of Bill – went on a nearly hour-long rant in the coach’s office about Hudson and how she was “f–king twisting” Belichick’s brain. 

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Dozens of Hanukkah celebrations across metro Atlanta will go on as scheduled this week.

Security is now top priority following the brutal shooting that killed 15 people at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.

“Of course the minute the news came out from Australia we were in touch with our law enforcement partners,” said Renee Kutner, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. “We went back through the plans. We amped them up where we needed to. People will see extra patrols around, not because there’s threats but because we just want to make sure everybody knows that they’re safe.”

The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta says it spends millions of dollars every year securing its community against antisemitic attacks.

“We are so blessed to have really, really great relationships with law enforcement at every level across metro Atlanta and throughout Georgia,” Kutner said. “And we’ve been in contact with all of them. They are so supportive and they will be at our events – they will amp up the security.”

According to Kutner, the heightened security is out of an abundance of caution.

“We have no credible threats, no reason to believe that lone actors somewhere else will affect anything here, and we want to give our community the chance to celebrate,” Kutner said.

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