The man who stole Arnold Palmer’s Masters Tournament jacket after finding it mistakenly dropped in a “destroy pile” at Augusta National Golf Club has been sentenced to one year in prison for a crime that netted him $5.6 million, though he later agreed to work undercover for the feds.
Richard Globensky, a 40-year-old former Augusta warehouse worker, pleaded guilty to one criminal count last year. The Georgia resident admitted to a scheme that spanned more than a decade, which unraveled when the FBI discovered in 2022 that Palmer’s jacket was for sale in Lincoln Park.
Now, Globensky’s sentencing at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse revealed that he’d swiftly agreed to help the feds in pursuit of a separate target — a “bigger animal” — believed to be heavily involved in the sale of stolen sports memorabilia. No arrests were made, records show. And Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Hayes said in court that’s “not because of anything the defendant did wrong.”
“Whenever the agents needed him, Mr. Globensky was there,” defense attorney Thomas Church argued in a court memo.
U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman handed Globensky his sentence Wednesday, also ordering him to pay $3.4 million in restitution. She called Globensky’s crime a “longtime abuse of trust” and a great job he happened to have.
The judge wondered aloud whether Globensky’s friends and family questioned him spending beyond his means, and she said others in Georgia likely would have been “under a jail somewhere” if caught stealing even some of the individual items taken by Globensky.
Before she ruled, Globensky told the judge, “I deeply regret the decision that led me to this moment.” He then paused, seeming to struggle with his words, as Church put his hand on his back.
“I’m grateful for any second chance the court sees fit to grant me,” Globensky said. “And I will not take it for granted.”
Globensky admitted that he stole, and then sold, “large quantities” of merchandise from Augusta’s warehouse while working there between 2009 and 2022 — including T-shirts, jackets, hats, flags, chairs, watches and mugs.
The historic memorabilia he took also included tournament programs from 1934 and 1935, tickets from the 1930s, tournament records from 1942, a 2009 commemorative putter, an Augusta National unissued share of stock from 1932 signed by founding member Fielding Wallace, and documents and letters written and signed by golf pioneer Bobby Jones.
Globensky also admitted he stole jackets that belonged to Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.
But most prominent among the stolen items was the Arnold Palmer jacket, believed to be taken in 2012 before its recovery in Chicago about ten years later. Augusta had placed it in a large archive vault, but that vault was renovated in 2012, records show. All items inside were temporarily moved. When they were returned, Palmer’s jacket was missing.
It appeared the jacket was not simply misplaced. During the move, all items were placed in boxes numbered “1 of 10,” “2 of 10” and so on, using a fine point marker, records show. But during a later inventory, it was discovered the labels had been changed to “1 of 9” through “9 of 9” with a thick black marker.
Church explained in a court memo this month that Augusta would place surplus merchandise in a “destroy pile.” And, “occasionally, memorabilia would sometimes end up in the wrong pile.”
“Mr. Globensky found a box in the destroy pile that contained a green jacket awarded to Arnold Palmer, a famous golfer,” Church wrote. “Mr. Globensky sold the jacket to [an unnamed individual] for $50,000. The jacket was later sold for around $4 million.”
Church said Globensky’s crime was “driven first by poor judgment, then greed.” Prosecutors say Globensky, who made between $17 and $19 an hour working for Augusta, spent more than $370,000 buying five vehicles and a motorboat over six years.
They say he also spent more than $160,000 on Disney-themed vacations and related activities, put nearly $600,000 toward construction of a custom-built home, and spent $32,000 in six years at Louis Vuitton.
Still, Church argued that Coleman should give Globensky probation, pointing to “the extraordinary lengths he has gone to show remorse for his conduct.” He said Globensky turned over 500 pages of his text messages to the feds, along with bank records, tax statements and other material.
Globensky also arranged for a “controlled transaction” with the separate individual targeted by the feds, in which Globensky managed to recover an “old stock book” he’d stolen, according to Church. When that person realized agents had intercepted his truck, he called Globensky and they discussed “sticking with our story,” according to the defense attorney.
Finally, Church noted that Globensky agreed to sell his house and put the proceeds toward restitution — though prosecutors noted the house was largely financed by Globensky’s crime.
“Mr. Globensky,” Church wrote in his court memo, “will likely be paying for these mistakes, literally and figuratively, for the rest of his life.”