Employee Who Embezzled $4M From Big Ten Network Gets 28 Months, Must Repay It All

CHICAGO — A long-time employee of the Big Ten Network (“BTN”) who fraudulently embezzled more than $4 million over an eight-year period has been sentenced to 28 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution for the full amount he embezzled, prosecutors said.

While serving as BTN’s senior director of engineering, Weston Goldstein, 48, was responsible for procuring electronic devices for BTN and its employees. Over approximately eight years, Goldstein used company credit cards and the company’s procurement process to purchase electronic devices—namely Apple products—for his family members, for an Apple device reseller in Pennsylvania, and to sell to third parties through online marketplaces such as eBay and Mercari, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois said.

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Between January 2016 and August 2023, prosecutors said that Goldstein purchased approximately $4,008,719.91 of Apple products using BTN funds and then sold them through various means for approximately $1,100,000. Goldstein used his position and exploited decreased oversight during the COVID-19 pandemic to commit the years-long fraud.

Goldstein spent approximately $630,000 of the illicitly-obtained proceeds for his own benefit on things like restaurants, merchandise, and automotive expenses. Goldstein paid the remaining amount—approximately $470,000—to an individual that Goldstein claimed was extorting him after the two began an online relationship.

In July 2025, Goldstein was charged with committing wire fraud, and Goldstein pleaded guilty to the federal criminal charge. On July 16, U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin sentenced Goldstein to 28 months in prison and ordered him to pay $4,008,719.81 in restitution.

“Defendant’s crime was not a one-time bad decision or temporary lapse in judgment; it was a multi-year scheme that required multiple steps, and defendant committed the fraud over and over again,” AUSA Chmura argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.

“Defendant used the COVID-19 pandemic as a shield to increase his fraudulent conduct when [BTN] had less oversight over defendant due to pandemic restrictions. Near the end of his employment defendant was instructed not to purchase any further equipment for [BTN] but instead of following his employer’s instruction he abused his position of trust and continued his unauthorized conduct.”