A California couple became the first parents to plead guilty in the national college admissions scandal, after the U.S. accused them of paying at least $600,000 in bribes to get their daughters into school.
Bruce and Davina Isackson entered their pleas Wednesday in federal court in Boston. They’re among 33 parents charged in the largest case of its kind the U.S. has ever prosecuted. Prosecutors said they schemed to boost their daughters’ entrance exam scores and participated in a second plot to create fake athletic profiles for them to gain admission as recruited athletes.
The Isacksons admitted conspiring with college admissions strategist William Rick Singer, the admitted mastermind of the scheme. From 2015 to February, they plotted to get their two older daughters into prominent California universities and to try to get a third daughter into an elite school as well, prosecutors said.
They will cooperate with an ongoing federal investigation, according to their plea agreements. The government has agreed to write to their sentencing judge seeking leniency if they provide “substantial assistance.”
Of the 33 parents charged in the case, 14 have agreed to plead guilty, while 19 others are challenging the government’s case.
Prison Term
The government has recommended a minimum prison term for Bruce Isackson of 37 months, according to his plea agreement. Davina Isackson faces a lesser term, prosecutors said.
In court Wednesday, Saris said she had concerns about how prosecutors have calculated the possible sentence using federal guidelines.
“There are some thorny issues here. This is not a straightforward case,” the judge said.
The Isacksons, of Hillsborough, are accused of using Singer’s services three times.
In 2016, they hired him to help falsify the college application of their eldest daughter, claiming she was a soccer player and winning her admission to her second choice, the University of California at Los Angeles, prosecutors said. The couple ultimately paid Singer more than $250,000 in Facebook shares for helping her, they said.