Ex-Celtics Guard, First-Rounder Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison

Former Boston Celtics guard Terrence Williams paid a hefty price for one bold criminal offense.

Williams, who was drafted in the first round out of Louisville in 2011, was considered the ringleader of a $5 million scandal that consisted of 18 former NBA players defrauding the league’s healthcare plan. As a result, a New York judge sentenced the 36-year-old to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty in August of 2022.

“I one million percent take full accountability for my role in this case,” Williams said in front of a New York court, according to the Associated Press.

Lasting four years in the league, Williams racked up over $6 million but blew away those career earnings, prompting him to resort to risky measures. Williams was ordered to pay the NBA over $3 million in restitution and forfeitures. It was discovered that Williams relied on fraudulent medical records to collect financial support from the league.

Williams recruited several others to join in — including fellow ex-Celtic Glen Davis –on his scheme, threatening those who didn’t pay him back a fee and even impersonated a health plan employee.

“Williams led a wide-ranging scheme to steal millions of dollars from the NBA Players’ Health and Welfare Benefit Plan,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said, according to the United States Department of Justice. “Williams recruited medical professionals and others to expand his criminal conspiracy and maximize his ill-gotten identities of others and threatened a witness to further his criminal endeavors. For his brazen criminal acts, Williams now faces years in prison.”

The NBA Players’ Health and Welfare Benefit Plan was launched to help both current and former players, and their families, with health care-related expenses.