Former First-Round Pick Terrence Williams Gets 10 Years In Prison For $4M Healthcare Fraud

Former first-round NBA draft pick Terrence Williams was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a federal judge on Aug. 3, 2023, for enticing others to aid his $5 million healthcare fraud scheme.

The Associated Press reports Williams, 36, was also ordered to forfeit more than $650,000 and pay $2.5 million in restitution for defrauding the NBA’s Health and Welfare Benefit Plan between 2017 and 2021 with the help of a California dentist and doctors in California and Washington State.

Williams was selected with the 11th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets and played for five teams before his career ended in 2013.

According to prosecutors, the medical professionals created fraudulent invoices processed by people Williams recruited to defraud the plan, which provides health benefits to former and current NBA players and their families.

During sentencing, Judge Valerie Caproni called Williams out for squandering his NBA earnings, which led to him orchestrating the fraud.

“You were yet another player who frittered away substantial earnings from the period of time when you were playing basketball professionally,” Caproni told Williams. “You should have had enough money to be set for life, but you don’t.”

Williams, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, wire fraud, and identity theft, is among 18 former NBA players charged in the scheme. Thirteen have pleaded guilty, most were sentenced to time served or probation, and at least 10 perpetrators made kickback payments to Williams totaling more than $225,000.

According to the AP, all 18 were journeymen players in the league, playing for multiple teams, never reaching the stardom or multimillion-dollar contracts or fame top players see. However, the players made a combined $343 million during their NBA careers.

During sentencing, Williams blamed the crime on “stupidity and fraud” and added he regrets his sentence because it will keep him from his family and six children. Williams blamed his situation on an opioid addiction he developed after taking painkillers to deal with injuries he sustained during his career.

The judge was unfazed by the statements saying his behavior was “extortionate, aggressive” and his motivation “was greed.”