‘Basketball Wives’ Star Brittish Williams Sentenced to 4 Years Behind Bars in Tax Fraud Case
Basketball Wives alum Brittish Williams will be serving hard time after pleading guilty to 15 fraud-related felonies, RadarOnline.com can confirm.
The former VH1 personality was sentenced to four years in prison on Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey said she had similar characteristics he spotted in fellow fraudsters during his years on the bench. “The unique and keen ability to engage in conduct at the time and slough it off,” he said.
“In your own mind, ‘Eh, it’s not really that bad,'” he explained. “But it is. It’s really that bad.”
Williams and her attorney Beau Brindley had asked for leniency with the reality star taking responsibility for doing wrong, despite knowing better.
Facing the reality of being separated from her daughter was “heartbreaking,” it was noted.
The judge, however, highlighted how her various fraudulent acts led to her raking in $150,000 a year from 2017 to 2020, the Riverfront Times reported. “That’s a pretty damn good wage,” he said.
“Not only are you out there for people to watch your entertainment, but also for people to watch you,” added the judge. “That’s a big obligation.”
Williams made her debut in season 3 of Basketball Wives back in February 2014. She later surprised fans with her return, but it appears that will be short-lived now that she has been sentenced.
RadarOnline.com told you first in April that Williams had asked to postpone her criminal trial to allow her time to work out a plea deal.
The following month, Williams pleaded guilty to five counts of misuse of a Social Security number, four counts of bank fraud, three counts of making false statements to the IRS, and three counts of wire fraud.
Among her misdeeds, she confessed to under-reporting her income on tax returns for 2017-2019 and falsely claiming a niece and nephew as dependents, which allowed the podcast host to skip out on $29,366 in tax owed.
She was also accused of traveling outside the state without approval, but the judge decided against throwing the entrepreneur in jail until her trial.
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“Brittish Williams has admitted an unusually large number of frauds that victimized taxpayers, banks, credit card companies, individuals and programs that were intended to help struggling businesses and employees during the COVID-19 pandemic,” U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming previously shared in a statement. “This is a first step towards justice for those victims. We will also be seeking repayment of all of her ill-gotten gains.”
In a video captured earlier today, Williams was seen leaving the court with a few friends and one briefly lunged at a reporter.
