A former warehouse assistant for the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia pleaded guilty Wednesday to transporting millions of dollars worth of stolen Masters tournament memorabilia and historic items, including one of Arnold Palmer’s iconic green jackets.
Richard Globensky, of Georgia, entered the plea in federal court in Chicago. He was charged with one count of transporting goods knowing they had been stolen.
“I plead guilty,” Globensky, 39, told the judge.
As part of a plea deal, Globensky must write a $1.5 million cashier’s check to the government within days. He remains free on bond and faces a maximum 10-year prison term when he’s sentenced Oct. 29, but will likely get closer to two years in prison under federal guidelines.
The items, that were stolen between 2009 and 2022, included such historic memorabilia as green jackets and tickets to Masters tournaments in the 1930s, as well as T-shirts, mugs and chairs, according to prosecutors. Among the stolen iconic green jackets were those won by Palmer, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.
Globensky, who had worked at the warehouse since 2007, would secretly photograph items and send them to a Florida-based seller, identified in court documents only as Individual A, prosecutors said. Globensky would then sneak out items that they were interested in, taking small quantities to avoid the risk of Augusta National’s auditing practices, according to court documents. Items were hidden in an offsite storage facility and shipped.