Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty ImagesFormer NBA guard Terrence Williams was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday for defrauding the NBA's Health and Welfare Benefit Plan.
Per Justice.gov, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said the following regarding the sentence:
"Williams led a wide-ranging scheme to steal millions of dollars from the NBA Players' Health and Welfare Benefit Plan. Williams recruited medical professionals and others to expand his criminal conspiracy and maximize his ill-gotten gains. Williams not only lined his pockets through fraud and deceit, but he also stole the identities of others and threatened a witness to further his criminal endeavors. For his brazen criminal acts, Williams now faces years in prison."
According to Larry Neumeister of the Associated Press, Williams' healthcare scam lasted from 2017 to 2021 and saw him defraud $5 million from the NBA Health and Welfare Benefit Plan.
Williams enlisted the help of a dentist in California and doctors in both California and Washington to file claims for "fictitious medical and dental expenses."
Judge Valerie E. Caproni chastised Williams for his actions, saying: "You were yet another player who frittered away substantial earnings from the period of time when you were playing basketball professionally. You should have had enough money to be set for life, but you don't."
Williams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, making him the 13th former NBA player to plead guilty in a wide-ranging healthcare fraud case. Five other former NBA players have been charged as well.
The court ordered that Williams forfeit more than $650,000 and pay $2.5 million in restitution.
Williams, 36, starred at the University of Louisville before going 11th overall to the then-New Jersey Nets in the 2009 draft.
He went on to spend four seasons in the NBA from 2009 to 2013, playing for the Nets, Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings and Boston Celtics.
In 153 career games, Williams averaged 7.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists, while shooting 41.2 percent from the field.
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