Ex-NBA player Terrence Williams helped defraud league of millions. He nets 10 years in prison
Former NBA player Terrence Williams, a first-round draft pick, was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for his role in defrauding the league's health plan out of more than $5 million.
Williams, 36, pleaded guilty earlier this year in federal court to aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud.
The scheme involved Keyon Dooling, a union rep and former assistant coach of the Utah Jazz, and 17 other former NBA players including ex-Laker Shannon Brown and ex-Clippers Darius Miles and Alan Anderson.
Read more: How an Encino chiropractor helped defraud the NBA
The scheme stretched from 2017 into at least 2021, prosecutors said, with Williams and the others submitting fraudulent claims for dental and chiropractic work to the plan, which reimburses current and former players for expenses not covered by regular insurance.
In 2017, Williams, the 11th pick in the 2009 NBA draft, submitted a false $19,000 invoice from the office of Encino-based chiropractor-to-the-stars Patrick Khaziran.
Williams received more than $7,600 from the invoice.
He and Dooling then recruited other players to participate, with physicians such as Khaziran providing false documentation of treatments that never occurred and charging them to credit cards linked to the health plan.
Williams and the physicians received kickback payments from the fraudulent claims the other participants submitted, prosecutors said.
Read more: 'Basketball Wives' star Brittish Williams pleads guilty to 15 counts, including fraud
In one instance, Williams impersonated a health plan employee to threaten a dentist involved in the scheme, prosecutors said.
Williams, as the employee, demanded a "fine" from the dentist. If the "fine" was not paid, Williams said, the dentist would be turned in to the authorities for submitting fraudulent invoices.
The threats netted Williams an additional $346,000, prosecutors said.
After Williams was arrested and charged in 2022, he sent a witness texts with expletives for "talking way [too] f— much."
"[Me] spitting in your face is exactly what you'll see," Williams wrote.
Read more: Ex-NFL player thought 'Shark Tank' would launch his barbecue empire. It became a nightmare, he says
Williams was subsequently remanded into police custody for obstructive conduct.
In total, the former Brooklyn Net and Boston Celtic received more than $650,000, which he was ordered to forfeit. He was also ordered to pay $2.5 million in restitution.
Dooling and Khaziran were each sentenced in February to 30 months in prison. Miles reportedly pleaded guilty in June. Anderson was sentenced in February to 24 months in prison In April, Brown consented to pay $320,000 in restitution.
Sign up for Essential California, your daily guide to news, views and life in the Golden State.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
