One more sentencing in college admissions scandal and prosecutor recommendations for next three parent facing a judge.

White-Gravenor Hall of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Fourteenth sentence for a parent in the college admissions scandal was handed down today. Also, feds have recommendations for the next three parents already scheduled for sentencing, which will be heavier than previous cases.

The LA Times provided an update on federal recommendations on 2/4/20:  Admissions scandal:  Prosecutors seek longest prison sentences yet for four California parents.

Prosecutors assert the four worked on the scheme for 11 years, cumulatively paying $1.6M to help out nine children.

Recap of status for these four, each of whom have pleaded guilty on two felony counts:

  • Douglas Hodge – sentencing on 2/7/20 – paid $850K for four children – Georgetown and USC involved – prosecutors requesting 2 years.
  • Michelle Janavs – sentencing on 2/25/20 – paid $100K to fix ACT answers for two children, $50K to a USC coach, and was arrested before paying a remaining balance of $150K – prosecutors are requesting 21 months.
  • Manuel and Elizabeth Henriquez – sentencing on 3/5/20 for him and 3/3/20 for her- paid $50K to fix test answers for two children and $400K to get one daughter into Georgetown as tennis athlete – prosecutors are requesting 18 months for husband and 26 months for wife.

Sentences sought by the feds are above the guidelines recommended by the federal probation department

According to the status listed by Wikipedia, there are two additional parents who have a plea deal and are awaiting sentencing: Davina Isackson and Bruce Isackson.

Another 15 parents are awaiting trial.

Additional sentencing

#14 – 2/7/20 – Douglas HodgeNine months in prison, $750,000 fine. Articles posted shortly after sentencing do not mention anything about community service or supervised release. Update:  500 hours of community service.

Former head of PIMCO, yes, the huge investment management company, paid $850,000 working to get four of his seven children into college. Two went to Georgetown as fake tennis players, two to USC, with one as pretend soccer player and another as fake football player.

He was working to get a fifth child into Loyola Marymount. Update Feds claim he offered to pay $200K for admission to Loyola Marymount, which claim Mr. Hodge denies.

Update:  He has been paying to get his children into college since 2008.

Update: He reports to prison on March 20, 2020, six weeks from today.

Prosecutors asked for 24 months. Federal sentencing guidelines suggest 0 to 6 months.

Tax problems on the horizon?Several articles say Mr. Hodge took tax deductions for the payments. I will make an obvious guess he has a federal tax audit awaiting him in the near future.  I’ll also venture a not-so-wild-guess the audit may upgrade to a criminal investigation. Oh, don’t forget California will want to get some tax money out of that deduction as well.

Previous sentencing:

I will continue to roll forward a summary of previous sentencing.

#13 – 11/14/19 – Toby MacFarlane – Six months in prison, $150,000 fine, 200 hours community service, and two years supervised release. He paid $450K to get a son and daughter into USC claiming them to be athletes. He paid $200K for each child to the consultant running the scheme and paid $50K to the USC athletics program.

Article says this sentence is above the guidelines. This is the longest sentence yet in the admissions scandal. Judge Nathaniel Gorton labeled Mr. MacFarlane a “thief” in the hearing.

#12 – 10/31/19 – Jeffrey Bizzack -Two months in prison, $250,000 fine, 300 hours community service, and three years supervised release. He paid $250K to get his son into USC as a volleyball player even though he did not play the sport competitively.

#11 – 10/23/19 – Jane Buckingham – Three weeks in prison, $40,000 fine, and one year supervised release. She only paid $35K of the agreed $50K to fix her son’s ACT before the feds stopped the whole scheme. This is the last parent with a plea deal sentenced by Judge Talwani.

#10 – 10/19/19 – Robert Flaxman – One month in prison, $40,000 fine, and one year supervised release.  He paid $75K to fix his daughter’s ACT score.

#9 – 10/16/19 – Marjorie Klapper – Three weeks in prison, $9,500 fine, 250 hours community service, one year supervised release.  She paid $15k have her son’s ACT answers corrected. Prosecutors claim, and she denies, falsely listing him as a minority on school applications.

#7 and  #8 – Gregory Abbott and Marcia Abbott – One  month in prison for each, with $45,000 fine each and 250 hours community service each. They pleaded guilty to paying $125K to improve SAT and ACT test scores.

#6 – 10/11/19 – Peter Jan Sartorio – One year probation, $9,500 fine, 250 hours community service. He paid $15k for getting a faked ACT score. Article says that is a tie for the smallest under-the-table payment of any of the parents.  Judge cut him slack because he didn’t try to hide the payment as a tax deduction and quickly admitted to his action. #5 – 10/4/19 – Agustin Huneeus Jr – Sentenced to 5 months in jail, $100,000 fine, 500 hours community service. He paid $100K for both the test score faking and buying admission as a stellar athlete instead of average. Article says he gave advice to the guy running the scheme on how to make it better.

#4 – 10/3/19 – Gordon Caplan – Sentenced to 1 month in jail, 1 year supervised release, $50,000 fine, and 250 hours community service. He paid $75k to have his daughter’s ACT test corrected. Judge continues to distinguish between those who bought test results versus those who paid bribes and submitted falsified applications. There is difference between test cheating and faking athletic status. He is scheduled to report to prison on November 6.

#3 – 9/27/19 – Stephen Semprevivo – Sentenced to 4 months in jail, 2 years supervised release, 500 hours community service, $100,000 fine, possible restitution to Georgetown. He allegedly paid $400,000 to the fake charity, which in turn allegedly paid the Georgetown tennis coach. Plan was to present the son as a competitive tennis player.

#2 – 9/25/19 – Devin Sloane – Sentenced to 4 months in jail, 2 years supervised release, 500 hours community service, and $95,000 fine. He paid $250,000 to get his non-water-polo-playing son into USC as a water polo player. Was accused of paying $200K to the charity run by the guy behind the whole scheme and another $50K allegedly to a former athletic director at USC

Parent #1 – 9/13/19 – Felicity Huffman – Sentenced to 14 days in jail, one year supervised release, 250 hours community service and $30,000 fine. Prosecutors asked for 30 days, one year supervised release, and $20K fine.

Nonparent – 7/9/19 – Stanford sailing coach – Sentenced to 1 day in jail, 6 months house detention, 2 years supervised release, and $10K fine. Described as the least severe of the cases since the coach didn’t receive any money directly and only one student was admitted.

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