ST. LOUIS – A former professional basketball player with St. Louis ties, also the ex-boyfriend of sentenced “Basketball Wives” reality TV show star Brittish Williams, pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge on Wednesday.
Lorenzo Gordon, 41, of Chesterfield, Missouri, pleaded guilty to one felony count of theft of government property.
A federal indictment alleges that Gordon falsified application for pandemic relief loans.
His ex-girlfriend, Brittish Williams, was sentenced to four years in prison for fraud-related felonies in January, which also included schemes connected to the COVID-19 pandemic relief loans.
As part of his plea agreement, Gordon admitted that he fraudulently applied for two loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and three from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program.
Investigators say that Gordon’s applications contained false information about three companies: Fitness LLC, Elite 50 Basketball Training LLC and Elite Health and Fitness Company LLC. Gordan received around $107,000 in PPP loans and $165,700 in EIDL loans and advances, according to his plea.
Gordon is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 9, 2025. He faces up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
Gordon’s attorney Jason Korner said, “Lorenzo’s been looking forward to today to take responsibilities for his actions.”
Gordon is originally from St. Louis and played basketball at Illinois State. He also played professionally in France, Germany, Turkey and Israel.
Williams first appeared on the VH1 reality show “Basketball Wives” in 2014 when she and Gordon were dating. They later broke up but have a child together.
Investigators say Williams engaged in several illegal acts between 2017 and 2019. She concealed her income and fabricated dependents to evade taxes. She committed identity theft, using stolen Social Security numbers to open unauthorized accounts and creating fake bank accounts for depositing checks without the knowledge of victims.
