A Massachusetts man who paid more than $1 million to secure his children’s admissions to elite universities as “athletic recruits” has received the longest sentence yet in the Varsity Blues college scandal.
John Wilson, 62, of Lynnfield, on Wednesday was sentenced by a U.S. District Court judge to 15 months in prison, two years of supervised release, 400 hours of community service, and a fine of $200,000. The private-equity investor and former senior Staples executive was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $88,546 to the IRS.
Wilson paid more than $1.2 million to secure the admission of his three children to Harvard University, the University of Southern California, and Stanford University as purported Division I athletic recruits.
The 15-month sentence in the Varsity Blues case surpassed the previous long sentence of 12 months and 1 day, which was handed down last week to ex-Wynn Resorts executive Gamal Abdelaziz.
Wilson in 2013 agreed to pay William “Rick” Singer $220,000 to facilitate his son’s admission to USC as a purported water polo recruit. The scheme involved presenting Wilson’s son to USC’s subcommittee on athletic admissions using a water polo profile that included fabricated credentials, awards and swim times.
After Wilson’s son was accepted to USC, Wilson wired: $100,000 to Singer’s sham charity, Key Worldwide Foundation; $100,000 to Singer’s company, The Key; and $20,000 directly to Singer.
Wilson paid the bribe from the corporate account of his private investment firm and falsely deducted part of it as a business expense and the remainder as a charitable contribution.
Then in 2018, Wilson agreed to pay Singer $1.5 million to secure the admission of his twin daughters to Harvard University and Stanford University as purported athletic recruits.
Wilson in October was convicted by a federal jury of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud; one count of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery; three counts of wire fraud and honest services wire fraud; two counts of federal programs bribery; and one count of filing a false tax return.
Wilson’s attorney said he will appeal the conviction.
“John Wilson’s case is fundamentally different from others in Varsity Blues,” his lawyer Noel Francisco said in a statement. “First, his children were well qualified for admissions on their own. His son was a strong student and a nationally competitive water polo player who actually participated on USC’s water polo team during his freshman year. His daughters had perfect and near-perfect ACT scores.
“Second, none of John’s money went to personally enrich anyone at the school; instead, his payments were for the schools and their athletic programs,” his attorney added. “Making a donation to improve a qualified applicant’s chances of admission is a well-established process at colleges and universities across the country, and is still in use today. It is not a crime. We look forward to presenting a powerful appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.”
