by way of Daniel Johnson
June 2, 2024
The indictment claims the wedding helped facilitate Earnest Williams’s alleged illegal activity.
Earnest Williams, the husband of Steve Harvey Morning Display co-host and radio persona Shirley Strawberry, has been indicted underneath the Shape of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Group Business (RICO) on 39 fees. In keeping with the charging paperwork, that marriage may be coming underneath scrutiny because the indictment claims it helped facilitate Williams’ alleged illegal activity.
As WSBTV stories, Fulton County District Lawyer Fani Willis, who has change into infamous for her workplace’s growth of the order’s RICO occupation, mentioned Williams’ process stretches again to 2009.
“He’s been conning people from 2009 to 2022. He would pretend to be a legitimate businessman, but he was stealing from people, in United States currency, vehicles, and really just taking advantage of people.”
Willis endured, discussing the wedding between Williams and Strawberry, “We believe she met a man, fell in love, and married him and the truth is at the time he was already married to someone else.”
Even though Strawberry isn’t a part of the scheme Williams hired, he most commonly most probably was once ready to usefulness her situation as a celeb to succeed in extra nation. As Sportskeeda stories, the court docket paperwork allege that Williams married Strawberry with the lengthy con in thoughts. Strawberry filed for a judicial separation from Williams in April, when he was once in the beginning indicted, however the pair separated in March 2022.
In keeping with lawyers, Williams allegedly old the wedding to achieve get entry to to extra sufferers, alleging that he defrauded a minimum of 25 people out of over $750,000. Williams is said to have stolen private automobiles, bikes, schoolmaster buses, and alternative constituent by way of both refusing to go back mentioned pieces or issuing sinister exams.
Ericka King, an alleged co-conspirator in Williams’ schemes, is indexed at the indictment and has fraudulently claimed to be his legal professional within the era, even representing him in some court docket court cases. King has additionally been indicted on 19 fees of her personal.
In keeping with the DA’s workplace, Williams’ sufferers have been incessantly ladies, whom he faked to have a romantic courting with. They believe there are possibly extra sufferers. In keeping with paperwork filed underneath the jurisdiction of Fulton Stunning Courtroom, “From at least December 1, 2009, through June 30, 2022, Earnest Williams engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity in Fulton County, Georgia, elsewhere in the State of Georgia, and in other states.”
As Deputy District Lawyer Will Wooten advised WSBTV, “Earnest Williams often created this impression of a close relationship or a romantic relationship with many of these victims, used those relationships to take money, vehicles, vehicle trailers, RV’s and other property from them.”
Wooten endured, “He would pretend to be a legitimate businessman, but he was stealing from people.”
