Source: Robin L Marshall / Getty / Brittish Williams
Basketball Wives star Brittish Williams is learning the hard way that if you do the crime, you will have to do time.
Spotted on the Riverfront Times, Williams will have to do time and was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to 15 counts of “various types of fraud.”
According to the RFT, Williams’ crimes she was accused of included not paying taxes and under-reporting the income of her businesses.
Williams also allegedly used other people’s identities to open bank accounts without their knowledge.
Williams, who starred in Basketball Wives and Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars and former co-host of the St. Louis radio station Hot 104.1, asked a judge for leniency during her sentencing, but Judge Henry Autrey was like nah.
Per Riverfront Times:
In court today, Williams and her attorney Beau Brindley asked Judge Henry Autrey for leniency in sentencing.
“I knew better, and I did wrong anyway,” Williams said, adding that the idea of being separated from her daughter was “heartbreaking.”
Judge Autrey seemed largely unswayed, telling Williams that he believed she possessed a “fraudster mentality.” He pointed out that in total, WIlliams’ various frauds led to her taking in $150,000 a year from 2017 to 2020.
“That’s a pretty damn good wage,” he said.
Autrey also suggested that Williams’ fame impacted his sentencing decision, saying, “Not only are you out there for people to watch your entertainment, but also for people to watch you. … That’s a big obligation.”
The website reports Williams dodged a bullet because it was recommended she do 63 years in prison. Still, her punishment was significantly more than the 18 months in jail or probation suggested by her attorney.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Klocke pointed out that Williams was still committing fraud well after she was indicted and counseling people, telling them they don’t have to pay taxes the first few years of running a business.
After her indictment, she was still collecting pandemic-related rent relief under false pretenses and submitting bogus medical bills to an insurance company.
Williams also traveled without permission while still on pretrial monitoring, according to Klocke, who also notes that her wearing of an ankle monitor was subplot during a season of Basketball Wives.
Following her sentencing, one of her friends lunged at a reporter as they filmed her leaving court.
Welp.
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Photo: Robin L Marshall / Gett
