Terrence Williams, a former Boston Celtics guard, paid a high price for one audacious criminal act.
Williams, chosen in the first round out of Louisville in 2011, was the ringleader of a $5 million scandal involving 18 former NBA players defrauding the league’s healthcare plan. As a result, after pleading guilty in August 2022, a New York judge sentenced the 36-year-old to ten years in jail.
“I take full responsibility for my role in this case one million percent,” Williams declared in front of a New York court, according to the Associated Press.
Williams made nearly $6 million in four years in the league but blew through those profits, causing him to resort to dangerous means. Williams was forced to pay nearly $3 million in restitution and forfeitures to the NBA. Williams was determined to have used false medical records to obtain financial support from the league.
Williams recruited numerous individuals to participate in his ruse, including fellow ex-Celtic Glen Davis, threatening anyone who did not pay him back a fee and even impersonating a health plan employee.
“Williams led a wide-ranging scheme to steal millions of dollars from the NBA Players’ Health and Welfare Benefit Plan,” stated U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, according to the US Department of Justice. “Williams enlisted the help of medical professionals and others to expand his criminal conspiracy and maximize his ill-gotten identities of others, and he threatened a witness to further his criminal endeavors.” Williams now risks years in prison for his bold criminal activities.”
The NBA Players’ Health and Welfare Benefit Plan was established to assist current and former players, as well as their families, with health-care expenses.
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