Tennis coach at fault
Fox pleads guilty to helping place students at top colleges
The former head of a private tennis academy in Texas who allegedly aided in the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scheme pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit racketeering charge on Friday.
Appearing in federal court, Texas resident Martin Fox, 62, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering.
Fox had agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with the government’s investigation on Oct. 21. He faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fine.
Due to his plea bargain, the government is recommending 21 months in jail, a year of supervised release, $245,000 in forfeiture and a fine of between $10,000 and $95,000.
Fox introduced co-conspirator and college admissions mastermind William “Rick” Singer to a tennis coach at the University of Texas in 2015, who facilitated the admission of a student to the Austin, Texasbased university as an athletic recruit in exchange for a bribe, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling.
Singer paid Fox a $100,000 bribe. Fox arranged other similar bribes on two occasions with a varsity sports coach at the University of San Diego.
The USD coach selected the son of one of Singer’s clients, who did not play the sport, as an athletic recruit for the team and Singer again paid Fox a $100,000 bribe.
In 2017, in exchange for the promise of another bribe, the varsity coach selected another student as a recruit to manage the coach’s team, facilitating her admission to USD. Although the student decided not to attend the college, Singer paid the varsity coach $10,000 for his help.
Fox also took bribes to serve as a middleman between Singer and an ACT administrator in an effort for students to get a good grade on the exam and get into elite colleges.
Fox will be sentenced at on Feb.14 in federal court.
Thirty-three parents have been charged in the controversial college admissions scandal overall, including Academy Award-nominated actress Felicity Huffman, 56, of “Desperate Housewives” and “Fuller House” actress Lori Loughlin, 54.
Thirteen parents in the scandal have received sentences ranging from probation to five months in prison. Huffman, who pleaded guilty to paying $15,000 to boost her daughter’s SAT score, served 11 days of her 14-day prison term and was released.
The group of wealthy parents involved in the scam include CEOs, investment executives, real estate developers and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Authorities say they all paid a consultant to rig their children’s test scores or bribe coaches at soughtafter schools like Yale, Georgetown and the University of Southern California.