Shirley Strawberry Husband Hit With RICO Charges For Scamming ‘Steve Harvey Morning Show’ Listeners
Source: Roswell Police Department / Roswell Police Department
The husband of popular radio host Shirley Strawberry was indicted on RICO charges this week after a grand jury found he’s been scamming Atlanta residents for years.
According to WSBTV, Earnest Williams was indicted by a grand jury under the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act.
The 39-count indictment alleges that Williams fraudulently married Steve Harvey Morning Show co-host Shirley Strawberry, “to create this impression of some level of success and used that to scam other people,” Deputy District Attorney Will Wooten told AP.
Earnest Williams was indicated by a Fulton County Grand Jury on April 23 on 39 counts of fraud. ‘Businessman’ allegedly married Steve Harvey’s radio co-host Shirley Strawberry to scam over $750K from 25 victims, mostly other women."Worthless man praying on women! pic.twitter.com/1Eu3DY1L6a
— Sumner (@renmusb1) May 31, 2024
“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,” said Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. “He’s been conning people since 2009 to 2022.”
Williams allegedly used his marriage to Strawberry to get access to victims and over the course of 12 years, he scammed more than 25 people out of over $750,000.
According to the indictment, Williams allegedly stole personal vehicles, motorcycles, coach buses and other properties by using bad checks or just never returning the items.
Ericka King, who was listed as Williams’ co-conspirator was also listed in the indictment for allegedly pretending to be his lawyer and falsely representing him in court. She is listed as a co-conspirator on 19 of the 39 indictments filed against Williams.
According to MadameNoire, Williams allegedly “solicited King to fraudulently assume the identities of multiple attorneys licensed to practice law in Georgia to deceive law enforcement and the courts, including by appearing in court and falsely and fraudulently representing Williams in hearings.”
The Fulton County District Attorney’s office revealed most of Williams’ victims were women who believed they were in a romantic relationship with him.
“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 told AP.
From MadameNoire:
Strawberry and Williams tied the knot in January 2015. However, MadameNoire previously revealed that he was still married to his first wife, Edith Williams, and that the pair had been married for 37 years. It also appears as though he has tied the knot four times since then.
On April 17, Strawberry filed for divorce from Williams; however, according to the court documents, the two have been separated since March 2022.
SEE ALSO:
5 Lessons You Must Learn From Shirley Strawberry’s Unfortunate Crisis
Black Women Are Breaking Barriers, Even As They Face Severe Headwinds
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