Two parents found guilty in ‘Varsity Blues’ scandal
Two former executives to be sentenced in February
Two wealthy former executives who bribed their kids’ way into some of the nation’s most elite universities were convicted in federal court in Boston on Friday in what one former MIT admissions officer called a loss for everyone affected by “Operation Varsity Blues.”
“I think everyone loses in this circumstance — the students those slots could have gone to, but I’m also sad for the children of these parents because they’re receiving the message that… you can cheat your way into anything and hard work is not enough.”
The jury deliberated for about 10 hours before convicting Gamal Abdelaziz, a former Wynn Resorts executive, and John Wilson, a Lynnfield resident and former Staples Inc. executive, in a case that exposed a scheme to get unqualified students into college by falsely portraying them as star athletes.
“What they did was an affront to hardworking students and parents, but the verdict today proves that even these defendants — powerful and privileged people — are not above the law,” Acting Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Nathaniel Mendell told reporters.
The two are to be sentenced in February.
“This is obviously not the result Mr. Abdelaziz was hoping for,” attorney Brian Kelly said in an email, vowing to appeal.
An email seeking comment from Wilson’s attorney was not immediately answered.
Over the course of the four-week trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Frank argued that Wilson, 62, paid college admissions consultant William “Rick” Singer $220,000 in 2014 to get his son into the University of Southern California as a purported water polo recruit, and $1 million in 2018 to get his twin daughters into Harvard and Stanford universities for sports they didn’t play.
Singer, the so-called “Godfather” behind the scheme, now is cooperating with the government and admitted to siphoning off money he was paid to people who could help increase students’ ACT exam scores and get them into college as athletic recruits, even though they didn’t play the sports their applications said they did.
“It was a sweeping conspiracy that involved dozens of parents who would stop at nothing to get their children” into elite universities, Frank said in closing arguments.
Some of the money parents paid was diverted to a “charity” of Singer’s or to the schools their kids were applying to, he said.
Frank called it “a bribe, a quid pro quo…. No matter where the money goes, it was fraud. Without the money, the kids would never have gotten in.”
Brian Kelly, one of Abdelaziz’s lawyers, argued, “A quid pro quo is not illegal unless there is corrupt intent. There’s no proof Gamal Abdelaziz had corrupt intent.”
Likewise, Wilson’s attorney, Michael Kendall, said, “There is no proof that John said anything wrong to anyone. Parents were not making bribes; they thought they were making donations.”
Last month, Gordon Ernst, the onetime head tennis coach at Georgetown University, became the latest Varsity Blues defendant to admit the match was over.
The 54-year-old from Chevy Chase, Md. and Falmouth will plead guilty to bribery and filing a false tax return, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston.
He has also agreed to forfeit nearly $3.44 million he earned from the college admissions scheme.
He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the most serious bribery charge.