St. Louis-area 'Basketball Wives' star headed to prison after 'miscommunication' [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Feb. 21—ST. LOUIS — A reality TV star who became famous after appearing on the VH1 show "Basketball Wives" is headed to prison after apologizing to a judge for not showing up on time to begin her sentence.

Brittish "Cierrah" Williams was sentenced in October to four years in prison after pleading guilty to a variety of frauds. She was allowed to remain out on bond until she voluntarily reported to prison, but she was arrested last month after failing to show up as required.

On Tuesday, she was in court and her Chicago-based attorney, Michael J. Thompson, explained that a "miscommunication" about a request to delay her report date caused her to not show up. It was not Williams' intent to ignore a court order, he said.

"I would apologize to the court on Ms. Williams' behalf," Thompson said.

Williams, of Chesterfield, first appeared in 2014 on the third season of "Basketball Wives" while engaged to Lorenzo Gordon, who played professional basketball overseas and was also recently charged with fraud. Williams also appeared in the 10th season of the show in 2023, in which her legal troubles played out on screen.

She pleaded guilty last year to 15 federal charges, including tax fraud, bank fraud, insurance fraud and pandemic-related fraud. She sent out fake bills for health insurance payouts, lied to the IRS and on applications for federal loans, and opened bank accounts and lines of credit with other people's Social Security numbers.

In all, authorities say she swindled about $564,000.

Williams' prison report date was delayed in December because her lawyer said she needed more time to find a therapist to help her 5-year-old daughter adjust to her mother's impending imprisonment and find housing. Her lawyer then asked for it to be delayed again after Williams failed to report, but a judge denied the request.

She was arrested Jan. 12 and has been in a local jail while awaiting Tuesday's hearing for a judge to take the procedural step of revoking her bond so she could be sent off to prison at a minimum-security camp in West Virginia.

Williams' attorneys have said in filings that they plan to appeal her sentence.

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