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John Wilson at a 2019 hearing
The Boston Globe / Getty Images
Since the "Varsity Blues" scandal broke in March 2019, 33 parents have pled guilty to charges related to their paying to have their children admitted to college. In some cases, the funds were used to bribe coaches to list the child as a recruited athlete -- even though the children didn't play the sports. In other cases, the bribes involved paying proctors to change SAT or ACT scores. Some of the parents admitted to both kinds of misconduct.
On Wednesday, the first trial of the scandal kicked off -- with jury selection in the trial of Gamal Abdelaziz and John Wilson. Three more parents face a trial in January.
The trial could focus on the University of Southern California, which admitted both Wilson's and Abdelaziz's children. The two men are expected to argue that they did not view their payments as bribes, but simply as a normal way of operating for USC.
"The government appears to want to present its one-sided evidence that the 'school wasn't OK' with granting preferential admissions treatment for donations while at the same time blocking the defendants' evidence that, in fact, the school was okay with this arrangement," the two executives' lawyers wrote in a court filing, the Associated Press reported.
Prosecutors say the two men are trying to cover up their bribery with such statements.
At a recent hearing, the judge in the case said, "USC is not on trial."
One big question about the trial is whether Rick Singer, who coordinated all the bribes, will testify. He has agreed to testify for the prosecution, but prosecutors said they would decide whether to call him based on how the trial develops.
Reuters reported that defense lawyers will accuse Singer of being a liar, if he does testify.
