College scam dad gets most time in prison yet
BOSTON – Toby MacFarlane, a former real estate and title insurance executive from California, was sentenced to six months in prison Wednesday for paying $450,000 to get his daughter and son admitted into the University of Southern California as fake athletic recruits.
It marks the longest prison sentence so far handed down among 13 parents and one college coach in the nation’s college admissions scandal.
U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton stressed that MacFarlane participated in the nationwide admissions scheme led by college consultant Rick Singer “not once, but twice,” taking seats at USC away from two deserving students.
He told MacFarlane his actions should be tolerated no more than a common thief ’s actions, “because that’s what you are – a thief.”
“Higher education in this country aspires to be a meritocracy. Those who work the hardest or make the best grades rightfully get accepted into the best schools,” Gorton said. “You had the audacity and the self-aggrandizing impudence to use your wealth to cheat and lie your way around the rules that apply to everyone else.”
Gorton also sentenced MacFarlane to two years of supervised release, 200 hours of community service and a $150,000 fine.
MacFarlane, 56, of Del Mar, California, must report to prison by Jan. 2. He did not comment to reporters outside the courthouse as he exited before quickly stepping into a nearby Starbucks. MacFarlane pleaded guilty to fraud conspiracy charges in June.
Addressing the court, MacFarlane, himself a USC graduate, apologized to his family, friends, former business partners and his alma mater, as well as “all of the students who applied and didn’t get in.”
“I am truly sorry. I love that school and it is heartbreaking to me that I brought a shadow on it,” he said, adding he set a “terrible example” for his children. “They didn’t deserve this. I’m working to make it up to them and regain their respect.”
Gorton opted to impose a harsher sentence than called for in sentencing guidelines, citing the “fraudulent, deceitful” nature of MacFarlane’s conduct. The judge’s decision could be a preview of how he will approach other parents who go before him – including actress Lori Loughlin – who have pleaded not guilty.
MacFarlane, a former senior executive at WFG National Title Insurance Company, made two separate payments of $200,000, one in 2014 and one in 2017, to the sham nonprofit operated by Singer. Singer, in turn, facilitated his children’s admissions into USC through bribes to one current and two former USC employees. MacFarlane also made a $50,000 payment to USC athletics.
The first transaction involved the admission of MacFarlane’s daughter into USC as a fake soccer recruit. He then paid Singer again to admit his son into USC posing as a basketball recruit.
“The defendant knew what he was doing was wrong. He knew it wasn’t accepted at the school,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen told the judge. “So what does he do? He does it again with his son.”
Rosen said MacFarlane deserved prison because he was the first parent who paid into Singer’s “side-door” recruitment scheme twice. He asked the judge to “send a message” as a result.
“I am truly sorry. I love that school and it is heartbreaking to me that I brought a shadow on it.” Toby MacFarlane