Former Real Housewives of Beverly star Dana Wilkey has begged a judge not to sentence her to 20 years in prison after being charged with fraud.
The reality TV star is accused of making thousands of dollars of illegal payments and kickbacks to two friends when she was president of a health insurance vending company.
Dana, 42, was arrested and charged with wire fraud, aiding and abetting and making false statements to government agents back in June.
She was arrested alongside associates Lissa and Skylar Phoenix, according to the FBI.
Now Dana has claimed in court papers that she is really a good person who was duped by people she thought of as friends.
In the bombshell court papers she admits that she can be pretty gullible and has been taken for a ride before – including by her cheating baby-daddy.
She even said an ex-boyfriend had threatened to kill her.
The court paper states: “This case is not the first time that Dana Wilkey has trusted others to her detriment.”
Dana has now reached a plea deal with the feds and changed her plea to guilty on Count One of Misprision of a Felony.
In the latest court documents she begs the judge to be lenient saying she she had no idea that her business partner had been defrauding people.
She says that she “has reached the point in her life that she cannot ever risk losing custody of her son, or seeing her grandmother being placed in a nursing home.”
The papers include several letters from friends and family stating she is a good mother and worker.
Dana, who could face up to 20 years behind bars for each wire and conspiracy count, has asked for no jail time – but five years of probation and six months of monitoring instead.