Aspiration co-founder sentenced to 14 years in federal prison by judge
Joseph Sanberg, the co-founder of Aspiration, the environmental company at the heart of the NBA’s investigation into possible cap circumvention by the LA Clippers, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Monday by a federal judge.
Sanberg pleaded guilty last year to two counts of wire fraud for deceiving investors about the state of Aspiration as he raised funds. Federal prosecutors said that he took out $145 million in loans in 2021 with the cooperation of another member of Aspiration’s board of directors and that he created fake customers and false revenue to dupe investors.
Sanberg also found himself in the middle of an NBA investigation as he dealt with the federal government. Aspiration, the company Sanberg helped start more than a decade ago, was at the heart of the allegations that the Clippers circumvented the cap to reward star Kawhi Leonard beyond the limits of the NBA’s salary-cap rules. Leonard received a four-year, $28 million marketing deal at the direction of Sanberg, The Athletic previously reported, and Sanberg also gave Leonard $20 million in equity in the company.
The league launched its own investigation into the matter in September 2025. Sanberg talked to lawyers from Wachtell Lipton, the lawyers leading the investigation on the league’s behalf, according to a letter filed in April by the firm’s lead attorney, David Anders, with the federal judge overseeing Sanberg’s criminal case. Anders told the judge that Sanberg “substantially assisted” the investigation.
“In all our dealings with Mr. Sanberg, both directly and through his counsel, he provided information that was consistent with our review of contemporaneous documents and other evidence,” Anders wrote. “Mr. Sanberg’s cooperation substantially assisted our investigation, including our ability to develop a more complete understanding of key events.”
A lawyer for Clippers owner Steve Ballmer wrote in a separate letter to the judge that Sanberg’s statements to the NBA’s investigation should be treated with skepticism and that the “reliability of Sanberg’s information is suspect given that he has pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges, and the government has made its own determination that he is not credible.”
Ballmer has denied that he or the Clippers circumvented the cap.
Marc Mukasey, the attorney for Sanberg, had asked Stephen Wilson, the federal judge who sentenced Sanberg, for leniency. At a sentencing hearing last month, several victims came forward to share their testimony. One lost 50 percent of their net worth. Another victim claimed to have lost $90,000 — wiping out their retirement account. “My wife and I invested all of our available capital,” another man said, estimating $685,000.
Sanberg addressed them: “Since the day I was arrested, I started the process of atonement.” He apologized and said he wasn’t in communication with any of the victims due to conditions of his plea agreement.
But the words rang hollow, as one victim returned to the podium to say that he had received a text message from Mr. Sanberg, asking him to influence the victim’s impact statement.
Sanberg was sentenced to 14 years — 168 months — in prison. Prosecutors said Sanberg was responsible for at least $248 million in losses. A restitution hearing is scheduled for July 20.
— Mirin Fader contributed to this story