In a recent legal case, Cierrah Williams, a British citizen, has been sentenced to a four-year prison term for her involvement in various financial crimes, including tax fraud, bank fraud, insurance fraud, and pandemic-related scams.
The former star of the reality TV show "Basketball Wives" admitted guilt to 15 felony charges, encompassing five instances of misusing Social Security numbers, four counts of bank fraud, three cases of making false statements to the IRS, and three counts of wire fraud, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Missouri.
Williams' attorney, Beau Brindley, expressed the opinion that she was punished more harshly due to her celebrity status rather than her actual crimes. He emphasized that success is not a crime deserving enhanced penalties and vowed to challenge the sentence through all available legal means.
Apart from the four-year prison sentence, Williams, who is 33 years old, will be on supervised release for five years after her release from prison and has been ordered to pay restitution of $564,069.
The decision, made on a Tuesday, followed Brindley's suggestion of an 18-month sentence and a pre-sentence investigation report that recommended a 63-month prison term. During the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey admonished Williams, stating that she knew her actions were wrong and that her celebrity status added to her responsibilities.
In her plea agreement, Williams admitted to underreporting her income on tax returns from 2017 to 2019 and falsely claiming her niece and nephew as dependents to avoid paying $29,366 in taxes. She also fraudulently used unassigned Social Security numbers to open accounts with credit card companies and banks, resulting in losses of $28,537 to various victims.
These stolen Social Security numbers were further employed in committing bank fraud, causing additional losses of $23,850.
Williams submitted nine fraudulent applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans, designed to assist struggling businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. She falsified her business income, payroll, and criminal history, obtaining $144,400 from the loans, which she used for her extravagant lifestyle.
Additionally, she obtained $52,647 from four Paycheck Protection Program loans intended for small businesses seeking payroll coverage for up to eight weeks, including benefits.
In 2021, Williams was indicted, and during this period, she applied for the California COVID-19 Rent Relief program, falsely claiming California residency and financial hardship due to the pandemic. She received $27,801. Williams neglected to file annual tax returns after her indictment and declared herself as "exempt" with her former radio station employer, resulting in no tax withholding from her $90,000 salary.
Furthermore, Williams submitted fake medical bills to at least one insurance company, leading to her, her co-conspirators, or both receiving $139,479.92, as stated by the prosecutors.
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