Gordon Ernst, Donna Heinel, Laura Janke, Ali Khosroshahin, Mikaela Sanford, Steven Masera, Martin Fox, Igor Dvorskiy, Lisa "Niki" Williams, William Ferguson, Jorge Salcedo and Jovan Vavic each pleaded not guilty to racketeering during their arraignments.Ernst, Khosroshahin, Janke, Vavic, Salcedo and Ferguson were college coaches. Heinel was the senior associate athletic director at USC. Williams and Dvorskiy were standardized test administrators. Masera and Sanford were employees of Key Worldwide Foundation, the company at the center of the alleged fraud. Fox was the president of a private tennis academy and camp in Houston.The court hearing comes two weeks after prosecutors announced charges against 50 people accused of carrying out the largest college admissions fraud ever prosecuted in the United States. Prosecutors said the defendants carried out a scheme to cheat on standardized tests and/or bribe college coaches, who then helped the prospective students gain admission to a university by falsely claiming the students were athletic recruits.Of the 50 defendants, four people have pleaded guilty or plan to plead guilty in the case, according to prosecutors. Rick Singer, the mastermind of the scheme; Rudy Meredith, the Yale women's soccer coach who accepted a bribe to help a student get admitted; and Mark Riddell, who cheated for the students on the SATs and ACTs, are all cooperating witnesses for the prosecution. John Vandemoer, the former Stanford head sailing coach, has also pleaded guilty.A total of 33 wealthy parents were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud for their role in the scheme, according to court documents. Many of these defendants are scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston in the coming two weeks. Actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman are expected to appear in court on April 3.Read More – Source
Gordon Ernst, Donna Heinel, Laura Janke, Ali Khosroshahin, Mikaela Sanford, Steven Masera, Martin Fox, Igor Dvorskiy, Lisa "Niki" Williams, William Ferguson, Jorge Salcedo and Jovan Vavic each pleaded not guilty to racketeering during their arraignments.Ernst, Khosroshahin, Janke, Vavic, Salcedo and Ferguson were college coaches. Heinel was the senior associate athletic director at USC. Williams and Dvorskiy were standardized test administrators. Masera and Sanford were employees of Key Worldwide Foundation, the company at the center of the alleged fraud. Fox was the president of a private tennis academy and camp in Houston.The court hearing comes two weeks after prosecutors announced charges against 50 people accused of carrying out the largest college admissions fraud ever prosecuted in the United States. Prosecutors said the defendants carried out a scheme to cheat on standardized tests and/or bribe college coaches, who then helped the prospective students gain admission to a university by falsely claiming the students were athletic recruits.Of the 50 defendants, four people have pleaded guilty or plan to plead guilty in the case, according to prosecutors. Rick Singer, the mastermind of the scheme; Rudy Meredith, the Yale women's soccer coach who accepted a bribe to help a student get admitted; and Mark Riddell, who cheated for the students on the SATs and ACTs, are all cooperating witnesses for the prosecution. John Vandemoer, the former Stanford head sailing coach, has also pleaded guilty.A total of 33 wealthy parents were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud for their role in the scheme, according to court documents. Many of these defendants are scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston in the coming two weeks. Actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman are expected to appear in court on April 3.Read More – Source
