A former Stanford University coach who was implicated in a wide-ranging college admissions bribery scandal on Wednesday was sentenced to two years of supervised release, a lenient first sentence in a star-studded case.
Ex-sailing coach John Vandemoer, 41, in March pleaded guilty to accepting payments to the program totaling US$610,000 “in exchange for corrupting the admissions process of a major university,” US Attorney for Massachusetts Andrew Lelling said in a statement.
Fifty people have been implicated in the sweeping college admissions scam, in which parents paid bribes to aid their children’s entrance into prestigious universities.
Photo: AFP
Vandemoer’s is the first sentence in relation to the scandal, and 22 people have pleaded guilty.
Vandemoer claimed high-school students as recruits for the team, thereby aiding their admission, in exchange for the payments.
California Senior Judge Rya Zobel sentenced Vandemoer to supervised release, with the first six months to be served in home detention, and also ordered him to pay a US$10,000 fine.
Lelling, who has led the proceedings linked to the scandal, had recommended a sentence of 13 months in prison and one year of supervised release.
“We will continue to seek meaningful penalties in these cases,” Lelling added in the statement.
The ringleader behind the scam, William “Rick” Singer, who authorities say was paid about US$25 million to bribe coaches and university administrators, has also pleaded guilty and is cooperating with authorities. His sentencing is to take place on Sept. 19.
Under the scam, which broke in mid-March, parents paid a firm run by Singer to cheat on college entrance exams for their children or to bribe coaches to help non-athletic students get scholarships.
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