What are the charges against Brittish Williams? 'Basketball Wives' star faces 4 years in prison for 15 fraud felonies
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI: Brittish Williams has been sentenced to four years in prison for multiple felonies, including bank fraud, pandemic-related scams, insurance fraud, and tax fraud.
According to the statement issued by the US Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri, Williams pleaded guilty to a total of 15 felonies, including three counts of wire fraud, three counts of making false statements to the IRS, four counts of bank fraud, and five counts of misuse of a Social Security number, reports People.
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Brittish Williams' attorney says court treated her 'harshly due to her status'
Speaking about the former 'Basketball Wives' star's sentencing, her attorney Beau Brindley told People that "Brittish Williams was punished today, not for fraud, but for her celebrity."
"The court chose to treat her more harshly due to her status as a public figure rather than treating similarly situated defendants equally," she continued.
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"Ms Williams success is not a crime subject to enhanced penalty. And we will challenge this sentence through every legal means available," Brindley added.
Brittish Williams will be on supervised release for five years
The 33-year-old reality star will be on supervised release for five years after her release from a four-year prison sentence. She has also been ordered to pay $564,069 in restitution.
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Judge stated Brittish Williams 'knew' what she was doing
During the sentencing hearing, US District Judge Henry Autrey told Williams, "You knew what you were doing. You knew it was wrong and you did it anyway."
"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 judge added.
Brittish Williams opened bank accounts by fraudulently using Social Security numbers
In a plea deal, Williams admitted to under-reporting her income on tax returns for the years 2017-2019 and falsely claiming dependents which allowed her to avoid tax payments of $29,366 in taxes.
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The US Attorney's Office stated that Williams also "fraudulently used Social Security numbers not assigned to her to open accounts with credit card companies and banks," and also used it commit bank frauds.
As the reality star did not pay the accounts she opened, it resulted in a loss of $28,537 for various victims.
Williams did not pay the accounts that she opened, resulting in various victims losing $28,537.
She also withdrew money from the victims and deposited checks which caused an additional loss of $23,850.
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Williams has also been accused of illegally obtaining PPP loans allotted for small businesses that were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
