Disgraced Atlantic City Mayor Frank Gilliam could be sent to prison Thursday for stealing nearly $87,000 from a children's basketball program.
Sixteen months after pleading guilty in the case that brought the FBI to his home, Gilliam is finally set to be sentenced at 2 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Camden. The hearing will happen via Zoom.
He is accused of using the AC Starz as a "personal piggy bank" that furnished a lifestyle of high-end clothing, personal trips and expensive meals.
But whether Gilliam sees prison or probation will be up to the judge, who received two contrasting versions of the lifelong Atlantic City resident in sentencing materials filed by both sides.
Gilliam found basketball when he was young, escaping the trauma of his childhood forever changed at 3, when his father fatally stabbed his mother.
Basketball "became my outlet that silenced all the noise," Gilliam says in a narrative provided to the court by defense attorney Harry Rimm.
"The court was my sanctuary and I worshipped its every rule," Gilliam said. "The sport of basketball helped save my life, and it kept me focused on being a good student and a good athlete."
But rather than use AC Starz "to teach the game he loves and make a difference in the lives of young people through basketball, he used the team as a personal piggy bank in order to furnish a lifestyle he otherwise would not afford," Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Farrell wrote in his sentencing memo.
More than 200 people sent letters to the judge in support of Gilliam, representing a true cross-section of the community," Rimm said.
The present Gilliam as a coach, mentor, therapist and community leader whose lifelong work should not be judge by what he has called " worked to serve his city and should not be judged on what he has called "a terrible, life-altering mistake that will weigh on him for the rest of his life."
Rimm will ask that Gilliam be given probation, supervised release and 500 hour of community service, allowing him to continue taking care of his four children and building the two businesses he began last year.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Farrell will argue that the plea deal does not allow for a lessened sentence, and that the recommended 15 to 21 months followed by three years of supervised release is fitting.
Whatever the judge's decision, Gilliam must pay restitution of $86,790. He already has paid back $53,790.01, including $41,335 that was taken from his home during a raid Dec. 3, 2018.
Right after pleading guilty Oct. 3, 2019, Gilliam paid $500 and resigned as mayor.
On March 5, 2020, he paid another $10,000.
The defense will argue against additional fines, saying that Gilliam has few financial resources and hopes that this will not lead to a second bankruptcy.
Last summer, he started two businesses: Mapenzi LLC, a real estate rehabilitation company started in July; and Synchronized Souls LLC, a life and health coaching enterprising in August.
