Nonprofit update

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Two more parents have been sentenced in the admissions scheming. Also, the judge handling 10 plea deals outlines the rationale for sentencing.

Los Angeles Times – 9/23/19 – Prosecutors in college admissions scandal fighting for prison time for parents. The judge scheduled to sentence 10 more parents in the “Varsity Blues” admissions fiasco decided on the basis for which she will determine sentences.  Prosecutors had sought to use the amount of money paid as guiding the sentence. Judge decided the actions of the parents will guide her sentencing.

Two new sentencings

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.

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USC library. USC is the most popular school for those accused in the Varsity Blues scandal. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

A second sentence has been handed down in the “Varsity Blues” college-admissions scandal. I’ll make a completely wild guess on what the sentencing might hint for others facing sentencing or trial. Another parent has been charged.

Finally, link to a database from Wikipedia of the accused parents, their background, number of children involved, and name of school.

Of note to readers of this blog is that I’ve not seen any comments that  implicate any of the schools beyond some of their staff doing under the table deals.

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

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

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The first reports of a new college admissions scandal indicated the scheme was in play in Illinois. A small number of minutes research on the ol’ net shows the scandal is now open in Missouri.

With a sinking feeling, I am wondering where else this will show itself.

Scheme reportedly exists in Missouri

Kansas City Star – 8/5/19 – Did rich Missouri families give up custody of kids to get college aid? How’s that legal? Cases have been found of families in Missouri transferring guardianship of children in order to get financial aid.

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At a status conference update for the college admissions scandal, the prosecutors said they have turned over about 3 million pages of documents to the attorneys for the 19 defendants still fighting the charges. This includes around a million pages of emails and 4,500 phone conversations which were wiretapped.

Several attorneys claim they want to see all the FBI interview forms (those infamous 302s, which are subsequently prepared notes of interviews documented at some various time after the interview) for all of the people *not* charged in the investigation. The claim is there is exculpatory evidence somewhere in the 302s. The judge denied that request for the moment.

For more info, check out USA Today on 6/3/19: College admissions scandal:  Parents say payments to ringleader weren’t bribes. Next status conference is on October 1.

Another scheme

Financial aid calculations are based on family income and assets.  If a student is assessed as ‘independent’ only the student’s income and assets enter the calculation.

So, how do you get mom’s and dad’s high income and very expensive house removed from the calculation so the student gets a bunch more assistance?

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A sentence has been handed down in the first of the college admission scandal cases to reach a judge. The former sailing coach at Stanford received:

• $10,000 fine
• 1 day in jail, already served
• 6 months house detention
• 2 years supervised release, i.e. probation

Prosecutors recommended 13 months in prison.

Several articles pointed out this person is the lease culpable of those lined up for sentencing. He did not receive any money directly.

If I read the articles correctly, the only student admitted as part of this scheme was not actually an athlete and has since been expelled.  No other students were admitted.

One key point of detention is an assessment of what type of crime is present.

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