A former Georgetown prep tennis coach accused of accepting bribes pleaded guilty last Fall. According to the U.S. attorney’s office, he was sentenced to 2 years on Friday. This sentence is the harshest punishment yet for a college admissions case.
According to court documents, Mr. Ernst pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit federal programs, bribery, and filing a false tax return. As a result of these crimes, Mr. Ernst received at least 3.5 million dollars worth of bribes and gave more than 20 slots at Georgetown university to the highest bidders. He also failed to report his gains from the bribe payments on tax returns.
The sentencing of Gordon Ernst to 30 months in prison is the harshest punishment issued so far in the investigation known as Operation Varsity Blues, an operation meant to crack down on the payment of bribes by wealthy parents to have their kids attend elite colleges. “Mr. Ernst was one of the most prolific participants in cheating the college admissions system,” says Rachael S. Rollins, the U.S. attorney.
Ernst was arrested, along with 50 other coaches, for being involved in the scandal (Ernst’s case being one of the last). Ernst’s case was also on of the more severe in this long case, Ms. Rollins explains “Mr. Ernst was a key driver of this corruption of the college admissions process, and the court’s sentence speaks volumes about the gravity of his conduct,”
Mr. Ernst also worked alongside the person the prosecutors say was the ringleader behind the whole scandal. William Singer, who went by Rick, was a private college counselor. He is one of the final four defendants of the Varsity Blue case, whose hearing is around September.
This problem can repeatedly occur, causing many more people to have many concerns about colleges that favor more wealthy families. In response to this scandal, many colleges have been advised to stop creating more factors that could put stress on students, causing their parents to pull strings to get them into colleges.
According to court documents, Mr. Ernst pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit federal programs, bribery, and filing a false tax return. As a result of these crimes, Mr. Ernst received at least 3.5 million dollars worth of bribes and gave more than 20 slots at Georgetown university to the highest bidders. He also failed to report his gains from the bribe payments on tax returns.
The sentencing of Gordon Ernst to 30 months in prison is the harshest punishment issued so far in the investigation known as Operation Varsity Blues, an operation meant to crack down on the payment of bribes by wealthy parents to have their kids attend elite colleges. “Mr. Ernst was one of the most prolific participants in cheating the college admissions system,” says Rachael S. Rollins, the U.S. attorney.
Ernst was arrested, along with 50 other coaches, for being involved in the scandal (Ernst’s case being one of the last). Ernst’s case was also on of the more severe in this long case, Ms. Rollins explains “Mr. Ernst was a key driver of this corruption of the college admissions process, and the court’s sentence speaks volumes about the gravity of his conduct,”
Mr. Ernst also worked alongside the person the prosecutors say was the ringleader behind the whole scandal. William Singer, who went by Rick, was a private college counselor. He is one of the final four defendants of the Varsity Blue case, whose hearing is around September.
This problem can repeatedly occur, causing many more people to have many concerns about colleges that favor more wealthy families. In response to this scandal, many colleges have been advised to stop creating more factors that could put stress on students, causing their parents to pull strings to get them into colleges.
