Lawyers for a private investor facing federal jail in a college admissions scandal known as Operation Varsity Blues filed a lawsuit Monday to overturn his sentence and his 15-month sentence.
The defendant, John B. Wilson, a former businessman, was convicted in October on bribery charges. He has been accused of agreeing to pay more than $ 1.5 million to admit his three children to elite universities as athletic recruits, although prosecutors accuse him of not qualifying for a Division I sport.
Mr Wilson of Linfield, Massachusetts, faces the longest sentence ever in the admissions scandal, in which more than 50 parents and college coaches were prosecuted for plotting with William Singer, a college admissions adviser, to organize side reception. in some of the most prestigious schools in the country, mainly through the use of slots in athletic teams.
Mr Wilson’s lawyers, 62, say in court documents that the key claim against him was that he paid $ 220,000 to bribe his son’s path to a place on the University of Southern California’s water polo team in 2014. – is legally wrong.
None of the money was intended for personal enrichment of someone at school, they say in court documents.
“Giving donations to a university is not bribing its employees; the school cannot be both a victim of the beneficiary and a beneficiary of the scheme, “said a request to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston from Mr. Wilson’s lawyers, including Noel J. Francisco, former Attorney General of the United States.
Of the total $ 220,000, Mr. Singer donated $ 100,000 to the USC water polo team, for which Mr. Wilson received a thank-you note. Another $ 100,000 went to Mr. Singer’s non-profit foundation, which Mr. Wilson said would benefit the USC, according to the call.
Mr. Wilson’s son, who played water polo in high school, was admitted to the USC on the basis of exaggerated athletic qualities, according to prosecutors.
But Mr Wilson’s lawyers say such practices have been common at the university.
“The court ruled out evidence that the USC regularly dressed donor children as athletic recruits, including for training-only roles or non-athletic support teams,” the complaint said.
At all times, as alleged in the complaint, Mr Singer presented his agreement to Mr Wilson as a common practice. In a recorded conversation, he told Mr Wilson that he was arranging “730 of these side deals in 50 or 60 schools”.
Later, in 2018, Mr. Wilson agreed to pay Mr. Singer $ 1.5 million to accept his twin daughters at Harvard and Stanford as alleged recruits in Division 1, but they were never recorded.
At the time, Mr Singer’s conversations with Mr Wilson and others were being monitored by federal agents in the large-scale investigation.
In addition to allegations of bribery and fraud, Mr Wilson was also convicted of filing a false tax return as he deducted part of Mr Singer’s payments as business expenses.
USC award-winning water polo coach Jovan Vavic was convicted this year in connection with the Varsity Blues investigation, which had previously caught actors Lori Laughlin and Felicity Huffman, both of whom chose to plead guilty instead of taking risks before the jury.
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