The hit TV show “Criminal Minds” seems to be having a lot of problems on the set lately. Earlier this week it was reported that actor Thomas Gibson was suspended from the show for kicking a writer. Now comes word that actor Shemar Moore was swindled out of more than $60,000 by a guest actor he befriended on the show. Fellow actor Keith Tisdell had a small role on the show in 2006 and again in 2013 that allowed him to come into contact with Moore. The two got along so well that Moore invited Tisdell to work with his retail company, Baby Girl LLC, which gives a portion of its sales to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Over the course of their friendship, Moore purchased gifts for Tisdale that included $10K car rims, vacations and up to $20K in cash at various times to help him with expenses. However. an audit revealed in 2015 that Tisdale was embezzling money from the organization and he was arrested in January 2016. At first Tisdale denied the allegation but later admitted that he did indeed take advantage of his friendship with Moore. Tisdell eventually pleaded to felony grand theft in July 2016 and was sentenced this week to three years of formal probation and 45 days of CalTrans labor. In addition he must repay about $56,000 to meet the terms of his probation to avoid jail.
Moore appeared at the sentencing this week and stated to the judge in the case, “I’m not here for money. I’m here because he betrayed a friendship. This is not OK. You don’t do this to people. In my mind, he wasn’t man enough to look me in the eye and ‘fess up.”
On the day he was sentenced Tisdell posted to Instagram “Sometimes you have to do what you DON’T want to do … in order to get where you NEED to be.”
