Man who bilked ‘black-ish’ star in romance con sentenced

LOS ANGELES — A man who romanced three women, including “black-ish” star Jenifer Lewis, in order to con them out of money for his phoney businesses was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison.

Antonio Wilson, 58, of Santa Monica, was sentenced in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles and ordered to pay $272,000 in restitution.

Wilson, also known as “Dr. Tony Mariot” and “Brice Carrington,” fleeced his victims out of money that he claimed were investments in his sound design company and software business, prosecutors said.

In fact, he spent the money on himself, they said.

U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson described Wilson’s behaviour as “vicious,” according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.

“Predator is not usually a term referred to in the fraud context, but it is an apt description here,” the judge said.

To create a “false sense of prestige,” Wilson claimed to be a Navy SEAL, an Oxford University graduate and an “Oxford professor teaching a course on biblical antiquities at UCLA,” the U.S. attorney’s office statement said.

Wilson was accused of stealing $50,000 from Lewis, who plays Ruby on the ABC sitcom “black-ish,” after meeting her at a gym where he was a manager. Lewis later sued the gym and settled for $13,000.

Wilson pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud.

The Associated Press