A former media company chief executive has agreed to plead guilty to charges in connection with recent admissions scandals at Georgetown University and the University of Southern California (USC).
Elisabeth Kimmel, the 57-year-old mother of two students involved in the case, has admitted to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud charges. She reportedly agreed to pay a total of $275,000 to California college admissions consultant William Singer for her daughter’s admission to Georgetown.
The alleged conspiracy was orchestrated with GU tennis head coach Gordon Ernst to allocate a tennis admission slot to her daughter. However, her daughter is not a competitive tennis player and was not being recruited for the varsity team.
Kimmel has also pleaded guilty to another count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud after she agreed to pay Singer $250,000 to facilitate her son’s admission to USC as a pole vault recruit, even though he is not a pole vaulter.
Kimmel has also pleaded guilty to another count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud after she agreed to pay Singer $250,000 to facilitate her son’s admission to USC as a pole vault recruit, even though he is not a pole vaulter.
Under the plea agreement, the former media CEO will be sentenced to six weeks in prison and two years of supervised release, with the first year spent in home confinement. Sentencing is scheduled for December 9, 2021.
Other US Admissions Scandals
Last year, the former CEO of a tech services company was also sentenced to one year of home confinement and ordered to pay almost $100,000 for bribing his son’s way into Georgetown. He wanted his child to be admitted to the university as a tennis recruit, even though his son never played the sport competitively.
Former college entrance exam administrator Niki D. Williams was also involved in a notorious college admissions bribery scandal in 2020. She reportedly allowed an accomplice to take SAT and ACT exams on behalf of the children of Singer’s clients.
The University of California (UC) also received criticism online after a state auditor report indicated that the school “inappropriately admitted” at least 64 students as “favors” to donors, family, and friends.