|
|
|
The views expressed on this page are
solely
those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the views of County
News Online
|
|
Bloomburg
College Scandal Is Heating Up With New Charges and Plea Deals
By Patricia Hurtado and Janelle Lawrence
May 26, 2020
The U.S. college admissions scandal is heating up more than a year
after the initial case was announced, with a flurry of new charges and
plea deals.
“Full House” star Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer
Mossimo Giannulli, gave up a 14-month fight and pleaded guilty on
Friday, even as prosecutors said a 25th parent, 60-year-old California
tech executive Peter Dameris, would admit guilt in the sprawling case
announced in March of last year.
Now, in the latest sign that prosecutors are still aggressively
pursuing parents swept up in the scandal, the U.S. attorney for
Massachusetts announced on Tuesday that Robert Repella, the former
president and chief executive officer of Harmony Bioscience LLC, was
charged with paying a bribe of more than $50,000 to a former Georgetown
University tennis coach to get his daughter admitted as a recruit.
Shortly afterward, in a videoconference hearing, the 61-year-old
resident of Ambler, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy
charge. Under the terms of his plea deal, the U.S. will recommend a
sentence of 10 months in prison, a fine of $40,000 and restitution.
“I sincerely regret and take full responsibility for my actions,
which were mine and mine alone,” Repella said in a statement through
his lawyer Robert Fisher. He said a university review “determined that
the academic and athletic qualifications my daughter submitted in her
application were factual and truthful and she remains a student in good
standing at Georgetown.”
Georgetown spokesperson Ruth McBain declined to discuss any student
specifically but said in a statement that after the initial charges
last year, the school “began conducting a process of thoroughly
reviewing the newly available information related to the alleged
scheme, contacting current students who may have been involved, and
giving each individual student an opportunity to respond.”
None of the students or schools in the case, from the University of Southern California to Georgetown to Yale, were charged.
Court filings show that Repella, the 26th parent to admit guilt, agreed
to cooperate with the government’s investigation, offering his help
back in August and working with prosecutors since October.
How he cheated is another noteworthy feature of Tuesday’s announcement
by U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling, who has spearheaded the massive case.
Repella didn’t conspire with the scam’s admitted mastermind, William
“Rick” Singer, but worked directly with the former tennis coach, Gordon
Ernst, according to Lelling. Dameris, the tech executive, did use
Singer to facilitate a $300,000 bribe to get his son into Georgetown as
a tennis recruit.
Ernst has pleaded not guilty. His attorney Tracy Miner declined to comment.
“This case is not Singer-related, and from my client’s perspective,
what he wants the world to understand is that his daughter had nothing
to do with this,” Fisher said in an interview after the plea hearing.
“She submitted her academic records and was number one-ranked in her
region as a tennis player.”
More than 50 people have been charged in the scandal. Of the 38
parents, including Repella and Dameris, 26 have admitted guilt. Their
sentences have ranged from two weeks for actor Felicity Huffman to nine
months for former Pimco CEO Douglas Hodge.
The new rash of plea agreements still leaves a dozen parents facing
trial. The first trial, which was to include Loughlin and Giannulli,
was scheduled to start Oct. 5, subject to the court’s reopening. The
second, beginning Jan. 11, includes private equity executive Bill
McGlashan.
|
|
|
|
