More Rich Families Await Charges In College Admissions Scandal

LOS ANGELES, CA — Another round of rich or famous parents and their children may be targeted by prosecutors in the far-reaching college admissions bribery scandal that has already taken down dozens associated with the nation’s elite universities.

It’s a scandal that combines the threat of prison time with public humiliation for privileged families, and it has many unnamed suspects fretting about their fates. A New York Times report Wednesday outlines a climate of fear among prominent Southern California families, who are lawyering up in anticipation of a new round of charges. More than 50 people including parents, college coaches and test proctors have already been charged for allegedly conspiring to cheat and arrange bribes to get the children of the powerful families into elite schools such as USC, Stanford and Yale.

Eric S. Rosen, the lead federal prosecutor in the case, set off a new round of speculation Monday when he announced in a Boston courtroom that there may be additional students who were admitted to USC as fake athletic recruits than has already been made public.

“For many of these people, this is the only thing they can think about,” one defense lawyer in Los Angeles whose firm represents multiple parents who have not been charged told the newspaper.

According to the Times report, several families have already been notified that they are under investigation, including one family alleged to have paid a bribe of more than $6.5 million – more than any other family named in the case — to get their child admitted to college as a recruited athlete. The newspaper also alleged that students could be charged in the scandal for the first time. The Department of Justice confirmed the ongoing investigation and the possibility of additional charges but declined to address specifics.

Parents who expect to be charged in the case have reason for concern. They have watched dozens of parents squirm under public scrutiny with every detail of their alleged plotting made public thanks to secret recordings made by investigators. The admitted ring-leader of the bribery and cheating scheme, the founder of a Newport Beach college prep scheme, had turned on his various clients, cooperating with prosecutors and tricking parents, including actress Felicity Huffman, into discussing the alleged crimes on phone calls that were recorded by investigators.

A Bay area couple pleaded guilty Wednesday to paying some $600,000 to help their daughters get into college. They join more than a dozen others who have pleaded guilty in the case. Another 14 were hit with additional charges last month as prosecutors pursued strongarm tactics against parents who refused to cooperate in the investigation.

Lori Loughlin, 54, and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, 55, were among those slammed with additional charges. They were originally charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud for allegedly paying $500,000 to have their daughters admitted to USC by portraying them as recruits to the university’s crew team, even though neither had ever participated in the rowing sport. After they failed to join other parents in cooperating, they were hit with additional money-laundering charges.

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Huffman was among the parents who pleaded guilty. She offered a lengthy public apology, but the “Desperate Housewives” star is still at risk of going to prison.

When it was exposed in March, the scandal sent shockwaves across the nation, tarnishing the reputations of elite schools as well as the wealthy parents apparently willing to cheat to get their children into them. Several coaches at local universities were arrested in connection with the alleged $25 million scheme. Parents willing to fork out bribes were able to get their children into schools such as USC, UCLA, Yale, Stanford and Georgetown as fake athletic recruits or by cheating on their entrance exams. In many cases, the students involved were unaware of their parents’ scheming.

Federal prosecutors said that in some cases, the ruse over fake athletic recruiting included the use of staged or faked photos of the students posing with athletic equipment or appearing to compete in sports they did not actually play.

Athletic coaches from USC, UCLA, Yale, Stanford, Wake Forest and Georgetown, among others, were implicated in the scheme.

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