A part-time actor from Orange County who claims to be the inspiration for HBO’s “Ballers” was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for swindling investors who thought they were buying into a cure for COVID-19.

A part-time actor who has claimed to be the inspiration for HBO ’s Ballers was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for soliciting investors in companies that marketed a bogus cure for COVID -19 during the early days of the pandemic.

Keith Lawrence Middlebrook, 57, claimed to have developed a patent-pending cure and a treatment to prevent coronavirus infection, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

An attorney for Keith Middlebrook said they would appeal and called Magic Johnson, who testified during trial, "the biggest liar I've ever seen."