'Basketball Wives' star sentenced to prison

ST. LOUIS (KTVI) – A judge has sentenced Brittish Cierrah Williams, a former cast member of the reality show "Basketball Wives," to four years in prison for her involvement in several schemes, including tax fraud, bank fraud, insurance fraud, and pandemic-related scam.

Williams, 33, pleaded guilty to 15 felonies, which included misusing Social Security numbers, making false statements to the IRS, and wire fraud. Her deceptive actions continued even after federal agents first got in touch with her and indicted her, as the sentencing hearing made clear.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Klocke highlighted the seriousness of Williams' crimes, emphasizing the need for strict punishment. U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey stated, "You knew what you were doing. You knew it was wrong, and you did it anyway."

In addition to her prison term, Williams will be on supervised release for five years and must pay $564,069 in restitution.

Williams' fraudulent activities covered a wide range, from underreporting income on tax returns for 2017-2019 to falsely claiming dependents to avoid paying taxes. She also used Social Security numbers that did not belong to her to open accounts with credit card companies and banks, causing financial losses to victim companies.

Furthermore, Williams opened bank accounts using these unauthorized Social Security numbers and committed bank fraud by depositing checks taken from other people's accounts without their knowledge, resulting in substantial losses, according to authorities.

She admitted to submitting nine applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans, intended to help struggling businesses during the pandemic. These applications contained false information about her business income and payroll, as well as her criminal history. Authorities found Williams had used the funds she received from two of these applications, totaling $144,400, to support her personal lifestyle.

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Additionally, Williams received $52,647 from four Paycheck Protection Program loans and made false claims for financial relief programs, like the California COVID-19 Rent Relief program. These fraudulent actions led to substantial payouts based on bogus information.

Williams even submitted fake medical bills to at least one insurance company, which resulted in a payout of $139,479.92, benefiting her and her co-conspirators, investigators said.

Since her indictment in October 2021, Williams has failed to file annual tax returns. She listed herself as "exempt" on a form with her radio station employer, which resulted in no taxes being withheld from her $90,000 salary. Williams is no longer employed by the station.