Brittish Williams Talks Gambling Addiction, Federal Fraud Charges
Brittish Williams is opening up about pleading guilty to 15 federal fraud charges and what allegedly prompted the misconduct. As The Shade Room previously reported, the former ‘Basketball Wives’ star was sentenced to four years in prison in October.
However, Williams is now appealing her sentence as she reportedly pleads for a delayed prison surrender date.
RELATED: ‘Basketball Wives LA’ Star Brittish Williams Pleads For Delayed Prison Surrender To Spend Christmas With Her Daughter
Brittish Williams Opens Up About Her Gambling Addiction
On Monday, December 11, Carlos King published a four-and-a-half-minute sneak peek clip of his exclusive sitdown with Williams on YouTube. The full episode is expected to be released on Tuesday, December 12.
As the clip began, King read Williams’ 15 federal charges, which included five counts of misuse of a social security number, four counts of bank fraud, and three counts of making false statements to the IRS.
Additionally, Williams is accused of using over $140,000 in “pandemic disaster loans” to fund her lifestyle, submitting $139,000 in fake medical bills, underreporting her earnings, and evading paying taxes in the amount of almost $30,000.
King asked Williams how her trouble began. She explained that in January 2017, she learned that her father was dying. At that time, she also had a “very bad gambling problem.”
“Horrible. Like when you think about people being on drugs or being alcoholics, I don’t think there’s anything worse than gambling,” Williams told King. “Because you have this thing where you think that you can constantly make this money or you think you can take this money and make it into this or make it into this… I had a gambling problem that was so bad, I don’t even understand how no one knew.”
Additionally, Williams explained that she almost lost her house and was spending not only her money but Lorenzo Gordon’s. Gordon is Williams’ ex and father of her daughter.
As the interview continued, Williams explained that gambling was an “addiction” she had to “ween” herself from.
The Former Reality Star Explains Her Social Security Misuse
Williams shared that her addiction ultimately had a lot of “domino effects on her life.” Additionally, her dad passed away later that year and left her insurance money, which prompted her to want to use it the “right” way.
The former reality star explained that she needed to repair her credit and met someone who promised that using a CPN could give her “good credit.” According to Experian, a CPN stands for Credit Privacy Number. It is a nine-digit number formatted like a Social Security Number (SSN).
However, the use of a CPN number is illegal as it employs the use of other individuals’ Social Security Numbers to pose a “false credit identity.”
During the interview, Williams explained her understanding of a CPN with King.
“It’s like they give you a Social Security Number and then you build the Social Security number up,” Williams told King. “So when people see this ‘misuse of a Social Security number,’ they think I went and stole people’s Social Security numbers or something. But that wasn’t the case — I bought a CPN from a credit lady and I don’t know if it was someone’s actual SSN or it was something they created. I don’t know, but that’s where that came from.”
A Brief Look Back On Brittish Williams’ Case
As The Shade Room previously reported, Williams pleaded guilty to her charges in May. At the time, she explained that she hoped her “story” could deter others from similar circumstances.
Additionally, Williams explained that she wasn’t “ashamed” of her actions. However, she instead views them as “lessons to make better decisions in the future.”
On October 24, Williams was sentenced to four years in prison, per The Shade Room. It was noted that the former reality star’s schemes brought in a “total of $564,069.”
“You knew what you were doing. You knew it was wrong and you did it anyway,” Judge Henry E. Autrey reportedly told Williams.
RELATED: ‘Basketball Wives LA’ Alum Brittish Williams Sentenced Over Fraud Charges
In November, it was reported that Williams was working to appeal her sentence. Her attorney, Beau Brindley, reportedly told PEOPLE that the judge treated her “harshly due to her status as a public figure.”
RELATED: ‘Basketball Wives’ Alum Brittish Williams Reportedly Appeals Prison Sentence
Most recently, Williams has reportedly requested the change push back her prison surrender date from December 11, per The Shade Room.
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