Women Sentenced For Stealing $1 Million From Tae Bo Creator

Two women were sentenced yesterday to 33 months in federal prison for stealing more than $1.1 million from Billy Blanks, the founder of the Tae Bo exercise program, federal officials said. Rhenee Sharmell Foster and Demetria Foster Gutierrez pleaded guilty last year to making unauthorized withdrawals from the bank account of Blanks’ company, BG Star Productions, more than 60 times. In addition to the prison time, the women were ordered to pay $1,119,000 in restitution and are barred from being employed in positions for which they would manage or have a hand in their employers’ money for a three-year period after their release from prison. According to the United States Attorney’s Office, Blanks hired Foster and Gutierrez to handle his personal and professional finances. Instead, the women stole a ton of cash and blew it on things like clothes, vacations and "down payments on several Range Rovers." Officials say the women were feeding Blanks false statements to conceal their scheme