Legacy Park, formerly Bell Bank Park, in Mesa, Arizona was supposed to be a utopia for the sport-obsessed, notably hosting multiple APP Tour, PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball events. A mega-complex built on dreams, debt, and allegedly doctored documents.
It had pickleball courts—plenty of them—but it also had soccer fields, baseball diamonds, volleyball courts, e-sports lounges, gymnastics space, fitness centers, restaurants, and even medical offices. Think of it as the Costco of sports: sprawling, ambitious, overlit, and capable of giving you shin splints just from walking the perimeter.
But that dream is now buried under a federal indictment. This week, the SEC and Department of Justice announced charges against Randy Miller, Chad Miller, and Jeffrey De Laveaga, the executives behind Legacy Cares and its for-profit affiliate, Legacy Sports. They’re accused of defrauding investors out of more than $280 million by using forged documents, inflated revenue projections, and fictitious commitments from sports organizations—including some from the pickleball world—to sell municipal bonds funding the project.
Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said: “As alleged, Randy Miller and Chad Miller swindled investors out of over a quarter of a billion dollars by selling municipal bonds they knew were backed by forgeries and lies. Municipal bonds fund critical public projects and investors rely on accurate financial disclosures to make informed decisions. This Office is committed to protecting the integrity of the public finance system. When individuals abuse that system and investors’ trust, we will hold them accountable.”
Let’s pause here and zoom in on pickleball. Legacy Park—briefly branded as Bell Bank Park and now operating under the name Arizona Athletic Grounds —wasn’t just another venue with a few token courts. It was pitched as a premier destination for professional, amateur, and youth pickleball. It hosted some of the sport’s most prestigious and memorable events:
- APP Mesa Open (March 29 – April 2, 2023): A marquee stop on the Association of Pickleball Players tour, drawing pros and spectators nationwide.
- MLP Mesa Event (January 26–29, 2023): Major League Pickleball brought its elite team competition to the facility, further cementing its reputation as a big-league venue.
- PPA Carvana Mesa Arizona Cup (February 20–25, 2024): The Professional Pickleball Association used the venue to kick off one of its premier tour events.
- The Dink’s own Minor League Pickleball event (August 17–18, 2024): A critical moment in the MiLP calendar, showcasing amateur talent with aspirations to go pro.
All of this added credibility to the idea that this wasn’t just a sports complex—it was the future of pickleball. At least on paper.
But, according to federal prosecutors, those papers were often forged. The SEC alleges that the defendants faked letters of intent and contracts from sports organizations, some of which didn’t even know they were being included in investor decks. In certain cases, the Millers allegedly forged actual signatures or directed others to copy them from unsuspecting organizations—including one that promotes athletics for disabled individuals. That’s a moral foul so egregious it deserves a technical…