When Brittish “Cierrah” Williams joined the popular “Basketball Wives” reality show on VH1’s season 3, she gained notoriety, and the sky was the limit. Now, she will spend for four years behind bars for fraud.
Recently, U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey sentenced Williams to four years in federal prison for defrauding health insurance companies and federal and state governments of $564,000. Williams pleaded guilty to tax, bank, insurance, and other pandemic-related frauds.
“Ms. Williams displayed a blatant disregard for the victims of her deceit. Financial crimes of this magnitude deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” said IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) Special Agent in Charge Thomas F. Murdock, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Authorities zeroed in on the 33-year-old reality show star after she made false statements on her tax returns between 2016 and 2019. The defendant had reported a gross receipt of $15,000, though she racked in hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. According to prosecutors, in 2019, Williams told an undercover IRS agent who sought her business coaching services that she had a great accountant who knew how to report the first three years of her business as a loss despite making over $250,000 a month.
In addition, the St. Louis resident opened bank accounts and lines of credit using the social security numbers of others while receiving COVID-19 relief payments by providing false information. In 2021, Williams’ contract while filming a show included $4,000 to pay her rent. Instead, she applied for rent relief from the State of California and pocketed the funds.
Williams’ defense attorney, Beau Brindley, sought leniency from the court by arguing the defendant’s philanthropic attributes towards notable fundraisers and foundations. Brindley further argued someone like his client should not be behind bars but should be granted the opportunity to do great things in her community.
The judge disagreed!
“In your own mind, ‘Eh, it’s not really that bad. But it is. It’s really that bad,” said Autrey at the sentencing hearing, reported St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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