Former senior executive at Staples Corporation His fraud and bribery convictions He was sentenced on Friday to six months of home confinement for tax offenses in a massive university admissions cheating scandal that saw him dismissed by the Court of Appeal.
John Wilson, 64, of Lynfield, Mass., was sentenced in the federal appeals court in Boston months after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit abandoned almost all his beliefs In the so-called Operation Varsity Blues case. An appeals court upheld Wilson’s conviction on charges of filing false tax returns.
Wilson was sentenced to one year of probation, with the first six months to be served at home, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts. He was also ordered to complete 250 hours of community service and pay a $75,000 fine.
Prosecutors alleged at trial that Wilson paid $220,000 to have his son designated as a water polo recruit at USC and an additional $1 million to get his twin daughters into Harvard and Stanford. Prosecutors also accuse him of improperly deducting business expenses and charitable donations he paid to secure his son’s enrollment.
Wilson maintains that he believes the payments, made through the scheme’s ringleader, Rick Singer, were legitimate donations. He said his children qualified for the school based on their athletic and academic achievements.
“John Wilson did not commit fraud, did not bribe any university, and was not involved in a major conspiracy,” his attorney, Michael Kendall, said in a statement Friday.
Wilson said it was “clear to everyone” that he was telling the truth and that he did not violate any laws or school policies.
“After nearly five years of being wrongly accused and wrongfully convicted, my family and I are relieved to see our nightmare end. I have spent years defending my innocence and my children’s reputation,” he said in an email said the statement.
Wilson was initially sentenced to 15 months in prison after a jury trial last year found him guilty Includes fraud and bribery conspiracy in October 2021. However, the judge allowed him to remain free pending his appeal.
Sue in court overturned the jury’s decision said the trial judge erred in instructing the jury that admissions slots constituted the university’s “property” under the Mail and Wire Fraud Act. The government also failed to prove that Wilson and another parent agreed to join “an overall conspiracy between Singer and his clients,” the judge found.
More than 50 people eventually convicted In the college admissions bribery scandal, the scandal revealed a scheme to get children into top schools through rigged test scores and fake athletic credentials.
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