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Former reality show star from STL admits multiple frauds
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ST. LOUIS – A former cast member on the reality TV shows “Basketball Wives LA” and “Marriage Boot Camp” appeared in St. Louis federal court on Wednesday and admitted committing 15 felonies from several fraud schemes.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Brittish “Cierrah” Williams, 33, pleaded guilty to five counts of misuse of a Social Security number, four counts of bank fraud, three counts of making false statements to the IRS, and three counts of wire fraud. Williams was indicted in September 2021.
According to a plea agreement, Williams was under-reporting her income on tax returns from 2017 to 2019 and falsely claimed her niece and nephew as dependents. As a result, she fraudulently avoided paying more than $29,000 in taxes.
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Williams used Social Security numbers that were not hers to open accounts with banks and credit card companies, and then failed to pay those institutions back, resulting in more than $28,500 in losses.
She also used those Social Security numbers to open bank accounts and deposited checks from other peoples’ accounts without their consent or knowledge, and then withdrew that money, causing $23,850 in losses to those individuals.
Williams told the court she submitted nine applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans, designed to help struggling businesses, four applications for the Paycheck Protection Program, created to save jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, and one application for rent relief in California.
She used $144,000 in loads from two of those applications to fund her lifestyle, and also received more than $52,000 in PPP loans.
On Jan. 3, 2022, Williams applied for money with the California COVID-19 Rent Relief program. She claimed she was a resident of the state with a total income of $50,000 and that she couldn’t pay her rent due to her work hours being cut because of the pandemic. She had stopped paying rent in July 2021 and received nearly $28,000 in funds from the state program.
However, the plea agreement states Williams’ $3,800 rent was reimbursed by the network producing “Basketball Wives LA.” Her work hours and pay were unaffected by the pandemic.
Prosecutors said Williams and co-conspirators received nearly $140,000 from at least one insurance company after she filed fake medical bills.
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Williams also has filed her annual tax returns since her indictment in October 2021. She listed herself as “exempt” on paperwork with her current employer, meaning there were no taxes withheld from her $90,000 annual salary.
The total known losses—actual and intended—from Williams’ fraud schemes is $446,082.
Federal prosecutors said they intend to have Williams repay all of the the money she received from her schemes.
Williams will be sentenced on Aug. 23. She faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count of Social Security fraud and making false statements. The bank fraud charges carry sentences of up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The wire fraud charges carry a penalty up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
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JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. – Two people are behind bars after a man reportedly attacked a Jefferson County deputy with a screwdriver during an attempted arrest over the weekend.
Prosecutors have charged Nicholas Davis, 47, and Amanda Davis, 45, of Dittmer, Missouri, with felonies in the investigation.
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The alleged attack followed a traffic stop of a driver in the 9500 block of Jones Creek Road on July 7, though the driver was not Nicholas or Amanda.
According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, Nicholas reportedly came out of his nearby home, yelled at a deputy and started approaching him while holding a screwdriver. The deputy initially ordered Nicholas to back away, then used pepper spray.
Per court documents, the deputy attempted to arrest Nicholas, who then struck him in the chest with the screwdriver. Amanda reportedly approached the deputy and pulled him away from Nicholas before both ran inside their home.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the situation prompted an hours-long standoff involving negotiators, a SWAT team and a K-9 deputy. The situation led to Nicholas refusing warnings and being bitten by a K-9.
Nicholas and Amanda are both jailed in the Jefferson County Jail without bond. Nicholas is charged with first-degree assault on a special victim and armed criminal action. Amanda is charged with resisting/interfering with arrest.
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ST. LOUIS — The new St. Louis schools superintendent will be officially sworn into office today. Dr. Keisha Scarlett took over the job in July after the retirement of Dr. Kelvin Adams. She was assistant superintendent in the Seattle Public School District. The installation ceremony is at 6:15 p.m. before the regular school board meeting.
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ST. LOUIS — A gasoline tanker truck crashed into a Metro transit center near Riverview and Hall Streets early Tuesday morning and knocked over a power pole. The pole is leaning on other power lines. Police have the area blocked off here because there is a downed power line. Ameren and Metro crews are also on the scene.
The incident happened around 12:30 a.m. It’s still unclear exactly what caused the crash, but we do that there was a second vehicle somehow involved. The airbags on that second vehicle did deploy.
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Police at the scene have not been able to give us a lot of details. Metro officials tell FOX 2 that the transit center here is operating this morning for passengers and buses. Access to certain areas will be limited here as clean up unfolds.
A Metro spokesperson says half of the station isn’t being used right now because of safety issues. It isn’t impacting overall bus operations, everything is just happening on the other side of transit center.
The extent of the damage to the actual transit center is still unclear, but I’m told it does not appear to be extreme. A Metro spokesperson tells me there were no injuries to any metro workers or passengers. The tanker driver also was not injured.
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