Nationwide College Cheating Scandal - Actresses, Business Owners Charged, Mar 2019 - #3

[dixiegirl1035]

Actress Lori Loughlin facing new charge in sweeping college admissions scandal

Well well, drip drip out more charges. I laughed when I saw this. Serves them right. They gave them a chance. First conspiracy, then money laundering, and now Federal bribery charges.

A grand jury in Massachusetts returned additional charges on Tuesday against 11 of the 15 parents charged in the college admissions case, including actress Lori Loughlin, the Justice Department announced.

The new charges in a third superseding indictment allege Loughlin, Gamal Abdelaziz, Diane Blake, Todd Blake, Mossimo Giannulli, Elisabeth Kimmell, William McGlashan, Jr., Marci Palatella, John Wilson, Homayoun Zadeh, and Robert Zangrillo conspired to commit federal program bribery by bribing employees of the University of Southern California to facilitate their children’s admission".


I wonder how much more potential time now with federal bribery charges.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

From your link Gardenista:

BOSTON (WHDH) - “A grand jury in Massachusetts returned additional charges on Tuesday against 11 of the 15 parents charged in the college admissions case, including actress Lori Loughlin, the Justice Department announced.”

“The new charges in a third superseding indictment allege Loughlin, Gamal Abdelaziz, Diane Blake, Todd Blake, Mossimo Giannulli, Elisabeth Kimmell, William McGlashan, Jr., Marci Palatella, John Wilson, Homayoun Zadeh, and Robert Zangrillo conspired to commit federal program bribery by bribing employees of the University of Southern California to facilitate their children’s admission.”

“In exchange for the bribes, employees of the university allegedly designated the defendants’ children as athletic recruits, with little or no regard for their athletic abilities.”

“In addition to the conspiracy count, John Wilson, of Lynnfield, is charged with two counts of substantive federal programs bribery in connection with his efforts to use bribes to secure his children’s admission to Harvard University and Stanford University.”

“The indictment also includes additional charges of wire fraud and honest services wire fraud against four defendants — Joey Chen, William McGlashan, Jr., John Wilson, and Robert Zangrillo.”

 

[JerseyGirl]

They were warned a few days ago about additional charges.

College admissions scam: 4 parents flip to guilty plea as some defendants may face more charges - CNN

Bring it on!

 

[whitelilac]

Conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery is punishable by up to five years in prison. The charge of federal programs bribery is defined as a bribe of anything valued of at least $5,000 at an organization that receives more than $10,000 from the federal government, which would include USC and other universities implicated in the scam.

College Admissions Scam: Lori Loughlin, Other Parents Indicted on Bribery Charge

 

[Gardenista]

Oh boy

According to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Loughlin, Giannulli and nine other parents-defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit federal program bribery by allegedly bribing various employees of the University of Southern California (USC) in order to get their wealthy children admitted to the crown jewel of the California public school system.

New Charges Filed Against Lori Loughlin in ‘Operation Varsity Blues’ Case

 

[JerseyGirl]

In a statement from the registrar on Monday, USC said Loughlin's daughters were no longer enrolled.

Actress Lori Loughlin and husband facing additional charges in college admissions scandal

 

[Pi Thoughts]

The bribery charge carries a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, though it is unlikely that any of the defendants will face a sentence close to that. The parents who have pleaded guilty so far have been sentenced to terms ranging from probation to five months in prison.
Lori Loughlin charged with bribery in college admissions case

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Actress Lori Loughlin and husband facing additional charges in college admissions scandal

Loughlin, best known for her role in the sitcom "Full House," was one of the dozens of people charged in March in connection with the multi-million dollar college admissions scheme.

 

[Only4Justice]

Oh boy

According to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Loughlin, Giannulli and nine other parents-defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit federal program bribery by allegedly bribing various employees of the University of Southern California (USC) in order to get their wealthy children admitted to the crown jewel of the California public school system.

New Charges Filed Against Lori Loughlin in ‘Operation Varsity Blues’ Case

too bad. Soooo sad! Hope they both go to prison. But i don’t think they will ever comprehend what they did. IMO. As a Mother with college debt for my son.

 

[Lynetta]

Chris Villani
@ChrisVillani44
In court for the sentencing of Robert Flaxman, a real estate CEO who pled guilty to paying $75K to have his daughter's ACT corrected. Prosecutors are seeking 8 months in prison, but test fraud 'Varsity Blues' cases have so far resulted in far less jail time.

Chris Villani
@ChrisVillani44
A separate charge in the criminal complaint accused Flaxman of paying $250K to have his child fraudulently recruited to U. of San Diego as an athlete, but the gov't has not gone forward on that charge. Flaxman has only pled to the test fraud.

Chris Villani
@ChrisVillani44
AUSA Justin O'Connell says Flaxman should spend 8 months in prison because he involved his daughter in the scheme & took a tax deduction for his $75K bribe. "He saw a fake ACT score as the only way to guarantee his daughter’s admission to college."

Chris Villani
@ChrisVillani44
Bill Weinreb (former acting US Attorney for the district) is representing Flaxman and says the CEO was trying to get his daughter into any college because she was in recovery & he wanted her to be safe. "He was desperate, this was an act of fear."

Chris Villani
@ChrisVillani44
Sobbing, Flaxman offers apologies to the court, his family, friends and business associates. "I apologize to the parents and students who worked hard and don't cheat, no matter what, I'm sorry."

RBBM


I wonder why the other charge ($250k, concerning his son) was not pursued.

 

[squareandrabbet]

I saw that just now!!

Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli Facing New Charges in College Admissions Case

The charge of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the money laundering. The charge of federal programs bribery provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Now all of a sudden I'm guessing plea bargaining doesn't look so bad!!

 

[neesaki]

Instead of realizing they were giving her a chance to plead guilty and escape additional charges, she thinks she’s a scapegoat. And still appears to not be acknowledging what she did was a crime. Is this delusional thinking? Ignoring her legal teams advice? Living in LaLa Land? Or all of the above? SMH
https://people.com/tv/lori-loughlin-terrified-about-new-charges-stress/amp/
Lori Loughlin Is ‘Terrified’ About New Charges: ‘This Stress Is About to Break Them,’ Source Says

Since the newest charges were brought against Loughlin and Giannulli, the source says the actress is feeling a mixture of emotions: “She is angry, she is sad, but most of all, she is terrified.”

“It just gets worse and worse for her. And you have to remember: nothing new has happened. They could have charged her with all of this last spring. But they waited,” the source explains. “She feels like she is a scapegoat.”

 

[JerseyGirl]

New charges for some coaches/Singer employees:

Gordon ERNST (Former Men's and Women's Tennis Coach at Georgetown University) -
Conspiracy to commit racketeering; conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud; conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery; federal programs bribery; wire fraud and honest services wire fraud – aiding and abetting; mail fraud and honest services mail fraud – aiding and abetting; money laundering – aiding and abetting.

Donna HEINEL (former Senior Associate Athletic Director at USC) -
Conspiracy to commit racketeering; conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud; conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery; wire fraud and honest services wire fraud – aiding and abetting; mail fraud and honest services mail fraud – aiding and abetting.

William FERGUSON (Volleyball coach at Wake Forest University, placed on academic leave) -
Conspiracy to commit racketeering; conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud.

Jorge SALCEDO (former Men's Soccer head coach at UCLA) -
Conspiracy to commit racketeering; conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud; conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery; wire fraud and honest services wire fraud – aiding and abetting; mail fraud and honest services mail fraud – aiding and abetting.

Mikaela SANFORD (employee at Singer's companies) and Niki WILLIAMS (administrator of standardized tests for ACT and College Board, Houston-area assistant high school teacher) --
Conspiracy to commit racketeering; conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud; wire fraud and honest services wire fraud – aiding and abetting.

Jovan VAVIC (former Men's and Women's Water Polo Coach at USC) -
Conspiracy to commit racketeering; conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud; conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery; wire fraud and honest services wire fraud – aiding and abetting.

Investigations of College Admissions and Testing Bribery Scheme

Fifteen parents who hadn't pleaded guilty were hit with a new grand jury indictment in Boston on Tuesday, 10/22, that includes a new charge of bribery for most of them:

David SIDOO, Amy COLBURN, Gregory COLBURN, -
Conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud; money laundering conspiracy.

Gamal ABDELAZIZ, Diane BLAKE, Todd BLAKE, Mossimo GIANNULLI, Elisabeth KIMMEL, Lori LOUGHLIN, Marci PALATELLA, Homayoun ZADEH, -
Conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud; conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery; conspiracy to commit money laundering.

I-Hsin “Joey” CHEN -
Conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud; conspiracy to commit money laundering; wire fraud and honest services wire fraud – aiding and abetting.

William McGLASHAN, Robert ZANGRILLO -
Conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud; conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery; conspiracy to commit money laundering; wire fraud and honest services wire fraud – aiding and abetting.

John WILSON -
Conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud; conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery; conspiracy to commit money laundering; wire fraud and honest services wire fraud – aiding and abetting; and federal programs bribery – aiding and abetting.

__

The Bay Area parents facing the new bribery charge in addition to the previous fraud and money laundering conspiracy counts are Diane and Todd Blake of Ross, William McGlashin of Mill Valley and Marci Palatella of Hillsborough. Gregory and Amy Colburn of Palo Alto face the two previous conspiracy charges.

The Blakes are accused of paying college consultant Singer $250,000 to have their daughter recruited to USC as a supposed volleyball star in 2017.

McGlashin is accused of paying $50,000 to have a corrupt proctor improve his son's ACT test scores plus $250,000 to have him presented to USC as a football placekicker and punter in 2018.

Palatella is accused of paying $75,000 for cheating on her son's SAT exam plus $500,000 to have him recruited to USC as a football player.

The Colburns are alleged to have paid $25,000 to have the corrupt proctor improve their son's answers on his SAT test in 2018.

Loughlin and Giannulli are accused of paying $400,000 to have both their daughters admitted to USC as supposed crew recruits.

15 Parents Charged in Revised College Cheating Indictment

with help from: 2019 college admissions bribery scandal - Wikipedia

 

[scdiv]

https://pagesix.com/2019/10/23/mart...man-looks-pretty-schlumpy-in-prison-jumpsuit/

Lol. Burn from Martha.

 

[Matic]

Someone's getting a bit worried.

Lori Loughlin 'terrified,' 'stressed' about new college admissions scandal charges: source

 

[JerseyGirl]

Lori Loughlin and Her Husband Reportedly Feel Like “David versus Goliath”

hahaha, quoted from above:

“They feel like this is David versus Goliath. How do you go up against the federal government, when the government has decided to make an example out of you? How can you possibly move forward from this?” a source close to Loughlin told People. “This stress is about to break them.”

But I guess I’m still interested in who this anonymous source is, the one who spouts paragraphs of comments bimonthly, and sometimes biweekly, that reveal the state of Loughlin’s familial life, inner thoughts, general feelings, legal strategy to People and other outlets. Is it her yoga guru? Her attorney? Her mother? Her daughter? Her? A fly on the wall? Her healthy gut bacteria? Felicity Huffman? Siri? Her publicist?

Whoever it is should reveal themselves or itself and come collect their book-deal advance. They’ve already written the first 100 pages, at least, and that’s half the battle.

 

[JerseyGirl]

I'd just like to thank JerseyGirl for posting these court results and keeping us all up to date.

You're welcome. Just add me to the long list of struggling parents who scrimped, saved and borrowed to send two kids to college to obtain a degree they cherish.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Chris Villani
@ChrisVillani44
Jane Buckingham, the bestselling author of a “The Modern Girl’s Guide to Motherhood,” is being sentenced today for having a corrupt test proctor take her son's ACT. The gov't is asking for 6 months in prison, she will ask for probation.
__

Buckingham, who pled guilty in May, also wrote a book with the unfortunate title, "The Modern Girl's Guide to Sticky Situations" and the Amazon reviews have been savage.

Chris Villani on Twitter

 

[JerseyGirl]

Nina Marino, who represents former USC official Donna Heinel, also pushed back on the new charges. "The zeal with which this U.S. Attorney’s Office strives to have long prison sentences hanging over these individuals’ heads is staggering."
Chris Villani on Twitter

Martin G. Weinberg, atty for parent Robert Zangrillo, said his client is not guilty & his client's daughter was never presented or admitted to USC as an athlete. "Today's new bribery charge is an unprecedented attempt to criminalize a donation made to a university by a parent."
Chris Villani on Twitter

US Atty Andrew Lelling: "Today's charges are the result of ongoing investigation in the nationwide college admissions case. Our goal has been to hold the defendants fully accountable for corrupting the college admissions process through cheating, bribery and fraud."
Chris Villani on Twitter

During yesterday's slate of guilty plea hearings, each of the parents said they were promised no new charges if they threw in the towel. That's the carrot and, for those who aren't playing ball with the gov't, today comes the stick.
Chris Villani on Twitter

 

[JerseyGirl]

Joey Garrison
@joeygarrison
I'm back at Boston federal court for the sentencing of the next parent who has pleaded guilty in the college admissions case: Jane Buckingham, who's admitted to paying Rick Singer $50K to have someone take the ACT exam for her son. She will be the 11th parent sentenced.

Joey Garrison
@joeygarrison
Buckingham, of Los Angeles, is the founder of a marketing firm and author of a "Modern Girl" book series. Titles include "The Modern's Girl's Guide to Motherhood" and "The Modern Girl's Guide to Sticky Situations" She previously hosted @abc family's "Job or No Job."

Joey Garrison
@joeygarrison
Right before the hearing started, the entire Boston federal courthouse evacuated for a fire alarm. That includes the defendant and prosecutors. It appears it was just a false alarm, however, and the court is about to get started with Buckingham's sentencing.

Chris Villani
@ChrisVillani44
We are getting underway a little late due to a fire alarm that forced us all to evacuate. As is his practice, Judge Young was kind enough to hold the door for everyone & make sure they got out safely