Former Employee of Youth Soccer Organization Sentenced for Obstruction of Justice

BOSTON – A Scottish man who was previously employed by Global Premier Soccer LLC (GPS), a youth soccer organization, was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for obstructing justice.

Gavin MacPhee, 37 was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to one year of probation, with the first four months served in home detention. In May 2020, MacPhee pleaded guilty to one count of destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in a federal investigation.

MacPhee held several roles at GPS, including office-based roles in administration and marketing, which involved managing GPS’ website and assisting with the management of GPS email accounts. In December 2019, MacPhee used his access to the organization’s information technology platform to delete a GPS email account belonging to a former employee with whom he had a close relationship. MacPhee deleted the account despite knowing about an ongoing federal investigation into GPS and the former employee, and the relevance of the email account to the investigation.   

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations – Labor Racketeering and Fraud, New York Regional Office; and Jonathan Davidson, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security Service, Boston Field Office made the announcement. Valuable assistance was also provided by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Fraud Detection and National Security Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mackenzie A. Queenin and Benjamin A. Saltzman of Rollins’ Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigation’s Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force (DBFTF), a specialized investigative group comprising personnel from various state, local, and federal agencies with expertise in detecting, deterring, and disrupting organizations and individuals involved in various types of document, identity, and benefit fraud schemes.