Ex-Jacksonville Jaguars employee and sex offender sentenced to 220 years in prison
A U.S. District judge in Florida has handed down a 220-year prison sentence to Samuel Arthur Thompson, a former Jacksonville Jaguars employee and convicted sex offender.
Judge Brian J. Davis sentenced Thompson, 53, for multiple offenses including the production, receipt, and possession of child sexual abuse material, as well as for hacking the Jacksonville Jaguars’ stadium jumbotron.
Thompson breached the jumbotron system after his employment contract with the Jaguars was not renewed upon discovery of his status as a registered sex offender. The Middle District of Florida confirmed this sentencing.
Thompson’s convictions, obtained in November 2023, also included violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) and possessing a firearm as a felon.
Previously, Thompson had been found guilty of assaulting a 14-year-old boy in Alabama in 1998, leading to his registration as a sex offender.
Prosecutors outlined Thompson’s role with the Jaguars since 2013, when he was hired to assist with the design, installation, and operation of the stadium’s large screen. The Jaguars expressed gratitude to the prosecutors following Thompson’s conviction in November.
Regarding Thompson’s association with the Jaguars, a statement highlighted that he was obligated to disclose his conviction as per his contract, which he failed to do. Upon learning of his conviction and sex offender status in January 2018, the Jaguars chose not to renew Thompson’s contract, which expired in March 2018.
Before his contract ended, Thompson installed remote access software on a spare server in the Jaguars’ server room, allowing him to access computers controlling the jumbotron during three NFL games in the 2018 season, causing repeated malfunctions.
