A wealthy parent arrested as part of Operation Varsity Blues was convicted of bribing US schools with $1.2 million
The head of a private equity firm in Massachusetts was sentenced on Wednesday to 15 months in federal prison for his involvement in a US college admissions scandal that also saw high-profile Hollywood celebrities including Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman face time behind bars.
John Wilson was charged with using $1.2 million to bribe his three kids’ way into college as Division I athletes, despite the fact that they were not athletes competing at such a high division. Wilson’s arrest was part of Operation Varsity Blues, in which federal authorities investigated and arrested numerous wealthy parents for bribing colleges and falsifying school records.
Prosecutors said Wilson paid $200,000 to get his son into the University of Southern California as a water polo recruit in 2014, and another $1 million in 2018 to get his twin daughters into Stanford and Harvard.
On top of his 15-month prison sentence, Wilson will need to pay a $200,000 fine, complete 400 hours of community service and spend two years under supervised release. He was also ordered to pay more than $80,000 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for filing a false tax return. Wilson, who was convicted in October, will appeal the conviction, according to his lawyers, as they called for a much lighter sentence of only six months.
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“Making a donation to improve a qualified applicant’s chances of admission is a well-established process at colleges and universities across the country, and is still in use today,” said Noel Francisco, a lawyer for Wilson, according to the New York Times.
Wilson and co-defendant Gamal Abdelaziz were the only two arrested in the sting who chose to take their cases to trial, and both were convicted. Adbelaziz was sentenced to one year behind bars for falsifying his child’s records to get her into OSC, as well as for paying $300,000.
More than 30 parents have pleaded guilty in the college admissions scandal to date, including ‘Full House’ actress Lori Loughlin, who served two months, and ‘Desperate Housewives’ star Felicity Huffman, who did 14 days in prison.
