June 2, 2024
The indictment claims the marriage helped facilitate Earnest Williams’s alleged criminal activity.
Earnest Williams, the husband of Steve Harvey Morning Show co-host and radio personality Shirley Strawberry, has been indicted under the State of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) on 39 charges. According to the charging documents, that marriage is also coming under scrutiny as the indictment claims it helped facilitate Williams’ alleged criminal activity.
As WSBTV reports, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who has become notorious for her office’s expansion of the state’s RICO act, said Williams’ activity stretches back 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 continued, discussing the marriage 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.”
This is a very interesting case.
"The 39-count indictment claims Earnest fraudulently married popular radio personality #ShirleyStrawberry. Strawberry is a co-host on the renowned “Steve Harvey Morning Show.”
“To create this impression of some level of success and used that to… pic.twitter.com/xMl86wxR7N
Fulton County District Attorney’s office has hit Shirley Strawberry’s estranged husband, Earnest (Ernesto) Williams with RICO charges. ⚖️🍦 https://t.co/prN5AZfSfQ#EarnestWilliams #ErnestoWilliams #ShirleyStrawberry #RICO #FultonCounty #Update #IceCreamConvos pic.twitter.com/8rasrk0tIm
Although Strawberry is not part of the scheme Williams employed, he mostly likely was able to use her status as a celebrity to reach more people. As Sportskeeda reports, the court documents allege that Williams married Strawberry with the long con in mind. Strawberry filed for a divorce from Williams in April, when he was originally indicted, but the pair separated in March 2022.
According to attorneys, Williams allegedly used the marriage to gain access to more victims, alleging that he defrauded at least 25 individuals out of over $750,000. Williams is alleged to have stolen personal vehicles, motorcycles, coach buses, and other property by either refusing to return said items or issuing bad checks.
Ericka King, an alleged co-conspirator in Williams’ schemes, is listed on the indictment and has fraudulently claimed to be his lawyer in the past, even representing him in some court proceedings. King has also been indicted on 19 charges of her own.
According to the DA’s office, Williams’ victims were often women, whom he pretended to have a romantic relationship with. They suspect there are likely more victims. According to documents filed under the jurisdiction of Fulton Superior Court, “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 Attorney Will Wooten told 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 continued, “He would pretend to be a legitimate businessman, but he was stealing from people.”
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