Global Courant 2023-05-11 16:07:48
BOSTON — A federal appeals court on Wednesday overturned all fraud convictions of two parents found guilty of paying bribes to get their children into elite universities as part of a large-scale college admissions scandal.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected all convictions against Gamal Abdelaziz and all but one conviction against another parent, John Wilson. The Boston-based appeals court upheld Wilson’s conviction on charges of filing a false tax return.
A jury in Boston federal court found the couple guilty in 2021 of buying their children as athletic recruits in the first case to go to trial in the so-called “Operation Varsity Blues” scandal that left prestigious universities across the country in messed up.
Abdelaziz, of Las Vegas, was accused of paying $300,000 to get his daughter into the University of Southern California as a basketball recruit, even though she didn’t even make it on her high school’s varsity team.
Authorities alleged that Wilson, a former executive at Staples Inc., paid $220,000 to designate his son as a USC water polo recruit and another $1 million to buy his twin daughters’ admission to Harvard and Stanford.
Lawyers for Wilson and Abdelaziz argued that their clients believed they were making legitimate donations and that the admissions counselor at the center of the scandal, William “Rick” Singer, presented his so-called “side door” plan as legitimate. They said they thought their money would go directly to colleges, saying they are no different than other wealthy parents who make donations to help boost the admissions process.
The 1st Circuit’s three-member panel said the trial judge was wrong in instructing the jury that the admissions slot is “owned” by the universities under the Mail and Telegram Fraud Act. The judges also found the government unable to prove that the parents agreed to join the “overarching conspiracy between Singer and his clients”.
John B. Wilson, center, after his hearing in Boston on February 16, 2022.Jessica Rinaldi/Boston Globe via Getty Images file
The government was allowed to present a “substantial amount of strong evidence relating to the misconduct of other parents in which these defendants played no part, creating an unacceptable risk that the jury would convict Abdelaziz and Wilson based on the conduct of others rather than their own .” judges wrote.
The verdict is a blow to prosecutors, which earned more than 50 convictions in the scandal which entrapped prominent businessmen, celebrities and other wealthy parents across the country. Coaches from schools including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and the University of California, Los Angeles admitted to taking bribes.
A spokesperson for Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said her office is reviewing the opinion and assessing next steps.
Lawyers for Abdelaziz said in an emailed statement that their client “has maintained his absolute innocence from day one and is immensely grateful that the Court of Appeal reversed his unfair conviction.”
“We are delighted to have represented him in this case and look forward to Mr Abdelaziz putting this behind him,” said lawyers Brian Kelly and Joshua Sharp.
Noel Francisco, Wilson’s attorney, said in an emailed statement that the decision “confirms what we knew from the start — John Wilson’s case is fundamentally different from others in the wider Varsity Blues scandal.”
“His children were all qualified for admission to these schools based on their own athletic and academic merit, and none of his money went to a coach’s enrichment, but rather went to the schools themselves,” Francisco said. “We are investigating the advice to determine the right next steps.”
Wilson was sentenced to 15 months in prison last year and Abdelaziz was sentenced to a year behind bars, though the court later agreed they could remain free while they continued their appeal.
Both men were convicted of fraud and bribery conspiracy, and Wilson was convicted of additional charges of bribery, wire fraud and filing a false tax return.
The leader of the scheme, Singer, was sentenced in January to 3 1/2 years in prison.
Among the most high-profile parents to admit to the charges were “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, who paid $500,000 in bribes to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California as recruits of the crew team, even though neither played the sport. Loughlin was serving a two-month sentence and Giannulli was serving a five-month sentence.
Others who pleaded guilty include “Desperate Housewives” star Felicity Huffman, who paid $15,000 to raise her oldest daughter’s SAT scores. Huffman was sentenced to 14 days behind bars.
