Hillsborough couple enter plea in admissions case
According to the Justice Department, the Isacksons also deducted the bribes from their federal income taxes by calling them charitable contributions.
Also Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported that a Chinese family paid $6.5 million to Singer to have their daughter admitted to Stanford by getting her on the sailing team — the third student from the university involved in the case.
The government hasn’t charged or named the family, though prosecutors have said the sailing program took in $500,000 in donations from Singer’s nonprofit linked to the third student. Her application included “fabricated sailing credentials,” prosecutors said. Stanford later said it had rescinded the student’s admission.
Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer has pleaded guilty to accepting $270,000 in bribes from Singer’s charity to recruit two teens with little boating experience.
The Isacksons’ guilty plea is the first among the parents involved in the case. The couple issued a contrite statement after agreeing to plead guilty on April 8:
“No words can express how profoundly sorry we are for what we have done. Our duty as parents was to set a good example for our children and instead we have harmed and embarrassed them by our misguided decisions. We have also let down our family, friends, colleagues and our entire community. We have worked cooperatively with the prosecutors and will continue to do so as we take full responsibility for our bad judgment.”
While those cooperating with authorities are likely to receive leniency at sentencing, prosecutors noted Wednesday that the maximum fines and sentences for the crimes are harsh: up to 20 years in prison for conspiracy and fraud, and fines ranging from $250,000 to $500,000.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 31 in federal court in Boston.
In all, prosecutors have charged 50 people with crimes related to the scandal, including college coaches and an athletic director.
Singer, the mastermind, has pleaded guilty, as have Vandemoer and two other former coaches: Michael Center of the University of Texas at Austin’s tennis program, and Rudolph Meredith of the Yale University soccer program, who led prosecutors to Singer.
Mark Riddell, who was an exam prep director at a Florida boarding school, also pleaded guilty to charges connected with posing as a student test-taker.
Thirteen parents including the Isacksons agreed to plead guilty last month. Prosecutors have indicted the other 19.
Three other Bay Areas parents have said they will plead guilty: Agustin Huneeus Jr., 53, of San Francisco, whose family controls a global wine empire; Peter Jan “P.J.” Sartorio, a packaged-food entrepreneur from Menlo Park; and Marjorie Klapper, 50, of Menlo Park, who coowns a jewelry business.
Their plea hearings are set for later this month. They are accused of paying between $15,000 and $300,000 in bribes and payments, including to a stand-in test-taker and to have exam answers corrected. Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov