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A former Georgetown College head tennis coach who pleaded responsible final fall to accepting bribes to assist potential college students acquire admission to the college was sentenced Friday to greater than two years in jail, in line with the U.S. lawyer’s workplace for the District of Massachusetts.
The sentencing of the coach, Gordon Ernst, 54, of Chevy Chase, Md., and Falmouth, Mass., to 30 months represented the harshest punishment issued thus far within the federal investigation generally known as Operation Varsity Blues, which has centered on the fee of bribes by rich mother and father with the intention to have their kids admitted to elite schools.
“Mr. Ernst was one of the crucial prolific contributors in dishonest the school admissions system,” Rachael S. Rollins, the U.S. lawyer, mentioned in a press release. “He put almost $3.5 million in bribes immediately into his pocket and bought shut to 2 dozen slots at Georgetown to the best bidder.”
Mr. Ernst pleaded responsible final fall to fees together with conspiracy to commit federal applications bribery and submitting a false tax return, in line with courtroom paperwork.
“Mr. Ernst was a key driver of this corruption of the school admissions course of, and the courtroom’s sentence speaks volumes in regards to the gravity of his conduct,” Ms. Rollins mentioned within the assertion.
Attorneys for Mr. Ernst couldn’t be reached for remark.
The disgraced former tennis coach was first arrested in March 2019, together with greater than 4 dozen different coaches, mother and father and testing middle officers. Mr. Ernst pleaded responsible to taking bribes to designate at the least 12 college students as recruits for the Georgetown tennis crew between 2012 and 2018. A few of these college students didn’t play tennis competitively, in line with courtroom paperwork.
Greater than 50 folks have been charged in reference to the scandal.
Mr. Ernst additionally did not report all the revenue from these bribe funds on his federal revenue tax returns, in line with a press release from the Division of Justice. His sentencing is likely one of the ultimate installments within the Varsity Blues scandal, which prompted renewed issues a few school admissions system that always favors rich candidates.
Mr. Ernst labored alongside the individual that prosecutors mentioned was the ringleader of the school admissions scheme, William Singer, who glided by Rick, a personal school counselor who supplied rich households a “aspect door” into the nation’s prime universities, usually utilizing athletic recruiters like Mr. Ernst to obfuscate a university applicant’s {qualifications}. Mr. Singer, who started cooperating with authorities in 2018, is considered one of 4 remaining defendants within the Varsity Blues case who haven’t but been sentenced. His listening to is scheduled for September.
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