A private equity investor lawyer and a former casino executive facing a federal prison in a college admission fraud scandal known as Operation Varsity Bruce filed an appeal on Monday seeking to overturn the conviction.
Both men were accused of paying their children to enroll in Elite College as newcomers to the exercise, even though prosecutors accused them of not being eligible to play Division 1 sports.
Men John B. Wilson and Gamal Abdelaziz face the longest sentence imposed on their parents in an admission scandal. “Door” entry, primarily by using athletic team slots.
Wilson and Abdelaziz have similar arguments in their complaint. Donations to universities to secure admission are commonplace and do not constitute bribes.
Former executive Wilson was convicted of bribery in October and sentenced to 15 months in prison. He was accused of agreeing to pay more than $ 1.5 million to enroll three children at the University of Southern California, Harvard University, and Stanford University.
Wilson, 62, a lawyer in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, said in a court document that an important claim to him (paying $ 220,000 in 2014 to pave the way for his son’s water polo team’s spot) is law. It states that it is flawed.
None of the money was intended to personally enrich anyone in the school, they wrote in court documents.
“A donation to a university is not a bribe to its employees. A school cannot be both a victim of this plan and its beneficiaries,” he said.
Of the total $ 220,000, Singer sent $ 100,000 as a donation to the USC water polo team, and Wilson received a thank-you note. According to the appeal, an additional $ 100,000 was donated to Mr. Singer’s nonprofit foundation, and Mr. Wilson believed it would benefit USC.
According to the prosecution, Wilson’s son, who was playing water polo in high school, was admitted to the USC on the basis of his exaggerated athletic qualifications.
However, Wilson’s lawyer claims that similar practices were common in college.
“The court ruled out evidence that the USC regularly dressed up the donor’s child as an athlete, including the practice-only or non-athletic team support role,” the appeal said. Said.
All the while, the appeal alleged, and Mr. Singer had touted his arrangements to Mr. Wilson as a general practice. In one recorded conversation, he told Wilson, “We are arranging 730 of these sidedoor deals at 50 or 60 schools.”
Las Vegas Abdelaziz, 65, was convicted of bribery and fraud in connection with efforts to secure her daughter’s admission to the USC in 2017, even though she did not form a high school national team. received. He was sentenced to one year and one day in prison in February.
In court documents, Abdelaziz’s lawyer claims he had a long-standing relationship with Singer, who had helped his sons legal college admissions.
Singer told him that if Abdelaziz made a donation to the athletics department and his daughter went through athletic enrollment as a basketball practitioner or team manager, she could help her enter the USC.
According to court documents, donations are intended for USC, not for individual schools. Former USC coach Lauren Janke, who created a fake exercise profile for Abdelaziz’s daughter, also pleaded guilty to the plan.
In addition to paying the USC, Wilson agreed in 2018 to pay Singer $ 1.5 million to allow Harvard and Stanford University to recognize his twin daughters as Division 1 sailing recruits. Was not registered.
By that time, conversations between Singer and Wilson and others had been monitored by federal agents in extensive investigations.
In addition to the number of bribes and frauds, Wilson was convicted of filing a false tax return for deducting part of the payment to Singer as a project cost.
USC decorated water polo coach Jovan Vavic was also convicted this year in connection with an investigation by Varsity Blues, who had previously captured actors Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman who chose to plead guilty rather than giving the jury a chance. I did.