Former NBA participant, Terrence Williams, was given a 10-year jail sentence on Thursday for his position in a fraud scheme that cheated the league’s well being care plan out of $5 million.

Williams, 36, who performed for the New Jersey Nets and different groups, pleaded responsible in August 2022 to being the mastermind behind the conspiracy. He recruited 18 different former gamers and a few corrupt medical suppliers to submit faux invoices to the NBA’s Health and Welfare Benefit Plan, which provides further protection to retired and former gamers.

The choose who sentenced Williams, Valerie Caproni of the Manhattan federal court docket, additionally ordered him to pay greater than $3.1 million in restitution and forfeitures.

According to prosecutors, the 36-year-old and his co-defendants filed phony claims for medical and dental companies that they by no means obtained between 2017 and 2021.

The invoices they used had been riddled with errors and inconsistencies, however they nonetheless managed to get reimbursed by the well being care plan.

The Seattle native obtained the faux invoices from dishonest well being care suppliers and provided them to different former gamers in trade for kickbacks. He obtained $346,000 from this scheme, prosecutors mentioned.

Williams additionally tried to intimidate his co-defendants and a witness by impersonating insurance coverage firm staff and sending threatening messages.

He advised one co-defendant to pay him a “fine” or face being uncovered for the fraud, prosecutors mentioned. He additionally advised a witness to “shut the f–k up” and accused them of “talking way to[o] f–king much” after he was arrested and launched with out bail in October 2021. The choose revoked his bail after studying of those threats.

The US legal professional for Manhattan, Damiam Williams, mentioned that Williams’ conduct was “brazen.”

“Williams led a wide-ranging scheme to steal millions of dollars from the NBA Players’ Health and Welfare Benefit Plan,” he mentioned.

“Williams recruited medical professionals and others to expand his criminal conspiracy and maximize his ill-gotten gains,” he added.

ALSO READ| Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson spotted training with LeBron James

“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.”

One of the opposite gamers allegedly concerned within the fraud was Sebastian Telfair, who grew up in Coney Island. The gamers who participated within the scheme had earned a complete of $360 million throughout their NBA careers.