The former Georgetown University head tennis coach, Gordon Ernst was sentenced to 30 months after taking in $3.5 million in bribes from rich families that wanted their kids in top collages.
According to Rachael S. Rollins, the U.S. attorney, “Mr. Ernst was one of the most prolific participants in cheating the college admissions system. He put nearly $3.5 million in bribes directly into his pocket and sold close to two dozen slots at Georgetown to the highest bidder.”
According to the Department of Justice, the ex-coach also didn’t add the money from the bribes to his tax return.
Mr. Ernst received the hardest punishment in Operation Varsity Blues, the operation investigating bribes that high income parents gave to schools for a better chance of getting accepted.
“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,” Ms. Rollins said in the statement.
Mr. Ernst and four dozen other coaches, parents, and administrators were first arrested in March of 2019.
Between 2012 and 2018, Ernst took bribes from at least 12 students for the Georgetown tennis team even though some of the students didn’t even play tennis competitively.
He worked closely with the leader of this operation, William Singer, a private college counselor. William Singer would often use people like Mr. Ernst to make someone’s college application much better than it was. Mr. Singer will be put on trial this September.
According to Rachael S. Rollins, the U.S. attorney, “Mr. Ernst was one of the most prolific participants in cheating the college admissions system. He put nearly $3.5 million in bribes directly into his pocket and sold close to two dozen slots at Georgetown to the highest bidder.”
According to the Department of Justice, the ex-coach also didn’t add the money from the bribes to his tax return.
Mr. Ernst received the hardest punishment in Operation Varsity Blues, the operation investigating bribes that high income parents gave to schools for a better chance of getting accepted.
“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,” Ms. Rollins said in the statement.
Mr. Ernst and four dozen other coaches, parents, and administrators were first arrested in March of 2019.
Between 2012 and 2018, Ernst took bribes from at least 12 students for the Georgetown tennis team even though some of the students didn’t even play tennis competitively.
He worked closely with the leader of this operation, William Singer, a private college counselor. William Singer would often use people like Mr. Ernst to make someone’s college application much better than it was. Mr. Singer will be put on trial this September.
