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Brittish “Cierrah” Williams, a reality TV star who appeared on VH1’s “Basketball Wives LA” pleaded guilty Wednesday to more than a dozen federal charges involving a variety of frauds netting nearly $446,000.
Williams, 33, admitted to bank fraud, misusing social security numbers, sending fake bills for health insurance payouts and lying to the IRS and on applications for federal loans.
The Chesterfield resident gained notoriety after appearing in 2014 on the third season of “Basketball Wives LA” while engaged to Lorenzo Gordon, who played professional basketball overseas.
She also starred on the show “Marriage Boot Camp” — a spinoff of “Bridezillas” — on WE tv in 2016 and was hired by WHHL (104.1 FM) last year to host a show called “The Home Team.”
Federal prosecutors in 2021 said investigators had learned Williams had been lying for years on tax returns and other financial documents.
Multiple false tax statements were made by Williams
They said Williams made false statements on tax returns from 2016 to 2019, reporting that her businesses, which earned hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, only reported gross receipts of around $15,000. She also falsely claimed two children as her dependents.
Around the same time, she applied for loans, took out lines of credit and opened bank accounts for her businesses with other people’s social security numbers. Williams never paid creditors back, resulting in losses of roughly $28,500. She also deposited thousands of dollars in checks taken from other people’s bank accounts only to withdraw them herself.
Then, during the pandemic, Williams submitted nine applications for COVID-19 relief money containing false information about income, payroll and Williams’ criminal history.
She was paid roughly $197,000 and spent much of the money on personal expenses, court documents say. She also submitted fake medical bills to an insurance company and, along with unidentified co-conspirators, received about $139,480.
Williams filmed a television show in California in 2021, where she submitted another false application. The show reimbursed her $4,000 a month for rent, and she was supposed to pay roughly $3,803 to her landlord. Instead, she pocketed the money and applied for rent relief from the state of California, saying she had a “reduction in hours of work” during the pandemic.
Williams was indicted in October 2021. Roughly nine months later, she committed another crime, prosecutors said: She cashed the check for about $27,800 from the California rent relief at a bank in St. Louis.
“I will not be committing any more crimes for the rest of my life,” she said.
Federal prosecutors asked Judge Henry Autrey to revoke her bond. But on Wednesday, Williams promised to stay on the straight and narrow. She said she was working two jobs and splitting her time between California and St. Louis.
Williams’ sentencing is set for Aug. 23.
This article was obtained via The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.