Connecticut Man Defrauded NESN Out Of Over $575K, Prosecutors Say

BOSTON, MA — A Connecticut man was sentenced to more than three years in prison for defrauding his former employer, New England Sports Network (NESN), out of over $575,000, according to prosecutors.

Ariel Legassa, 52, was ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture of $580,000 and a $1,000 special assessment. He will serve 42 months in prison and three years of supervised release.

Last year, he was convicted of seven counts of mail fraud and three counts of unlawful monetary transactions following a five-day jury trial.

Legassa was accused of orchestrating a scheme to defraud NESN from December 2020 to January 2022. He negotiated a contract with a New York company to provide web development services for NESN. He then created a fake business under the same name as the new vendor, prosecutors said, using 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, according to prosecutors. He also transferred the funds into other accounts under his control.

“Supplementing your paycheck by scamming your employer is a really bad career move,” Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, said in a statement. “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.”