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

<p>LOS ANGELES &mdash; A man who romanced three women, including “black-ish” star Jenifer Lewis, in order to con them out of money for his phony businesses was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison.</p>
<p>Antonio Wilson, 58, of Santa Monica, was sentenced in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles and ordered to pay $272,000 in restitution.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>In fact, he spent the money on himself, they said.</p>
<p>U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson described Wilson’s behavior as “vicious," according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.</p>
<p>“Predator is not usually a term referred to in the fraud context, but it is an apt description here,” the judge said.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Wilson pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud.</p>