11:02 am | March 25, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:
BOSTON _ A dozen athletic coaches, test administrators and others charged in a nationwide college admissions scam are in due in court on Monday.
Among the coaches are former University of Rhode Island tennis coach Gordon Ernst, who is alleged to have taken $2.7 million is bribes as coach at Georgetown.
Prosecutors say the Ernst designated at least 12 applicants as recruits for the tennis team, including some who did not play tennis competitively, in exchange for the bribes.
Ernst, who had been on administrative leave from URI since March 12, resigned on Saturday.
Among the other coaches and administrative officials to be arraigned are Donna Heinel, former senior associate athletic director at USC; Jovan Vavic, former USC water polo coach; Ali Khosroshahin, former USC women’s soccer coach; Laura Janke, former USC assistant women’s soccer coach; Jorge Salcedo, former men’s soccer coach at the University of California at Los Angeles; and William Ferguson, Wake Forest University women’s volleyball coach, who is on administrative leave.
Ferguson will plead not guilty, his attorney, Shaun Clarke, said in a statement Monday.
“Two weeks ago the US Attorney told you about a litany of abuses – phony test scores, unqualified students, falsified athletic profiles,” Clarke said. “Well, I can’t speak to what happened at other schools, but not at Wake Forest University. No one was admitted to Wake Forest who didn’t earn it, as a student and as an athlete.
“Bill Ferguson doesn’t belong in this indictment. Today he will enter a plea of Not Guilty and we will begin the legal process of clearing his name. Our ethical duties to the court prohibit us from any further comment.”
The admissions consultant at the center of the admissions scam, William “Rick” Singer, has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors.
Others to be arraigned Monday are Martin Fox, president of a private tennis academy; Igor Dvorskiy, director of a private school in Los Angeles; Mikaela Sanford, an employee of Singer’s business; Steven Masera, an accountant and financial officer for Singer’s business; and Niki Williams, a teacher in Houston who was a standardized test administrator. The group will be arraigned Monday in federal court in Boston on a charge of racketeering conspiracy.
They were among 50 people charged this month in the FBI investigation dubbed Operation Varsity Blues.
The coaches are accused of accepting bribes in exchange for labeling students as recruited athletes to help them get into elite universities.
Parents charged with paying bribes are due in court on later dates. They include Hollywood stars Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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