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A federal judge sentenced Gordon Ernst, a former head coach for men’s and women’s tennis at Georgetown University, to 30 months in prison for his role in the Varsity Blues admissions scandal. The sentence is the longest jail term in the scandal so far.
Ernst promoted the admission of at least 22 students to Georgetown as purported tennis recruits in exchange for a total of nearly $3.5 million in bribe payments. He then failed to report all the income from those bribe payments on his federal income tax returns.
Other sentences were lighter.
Ali Khosroshahin, a former soccer coach at the University of Southern California, was sentenced to six months of home confinement after he cooperated with authorities investigating the college admissions scandal, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Prosecutors did not seek home confinement or prison time for Khosroshahin, citing his acceptance of responsibility and help in prosecuting others.
But U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said that prosecutors’ recommendation of time served wasn’t enough, noting that Khosroshahin lured his assistant coach into the corrupt scheme.
Two parents and a former coach will also avoid jail time because they cooperated with prosecutors, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A California couple who admitted to paying $600,000 to get their daughters into the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles, were sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to complete 250 service hours. Bruce Isackson must pay a $7,500 fine, and Davina Isackson must pay a $1,000 fine.
Prosecutors didn’t ask for prison time, saying their “acceptance of responsibility for their conduct was unstinting, their remorse sincere.”
Laura Janke, a former assistant soccer coach at the University of Southern California, was sentenced to time served and 50 hours of community service. Prosecutors credited her “extensive and valuable” cooperation in the investigation despite her “egregious” conduct. She created fake athletic profiles for some of the parents in the scandal.
