Ex-water polo coach convicted in college admissions bribery

BOSTON
In the scandalous college admissions bribery scandal, a decorated former water polo coach at University of Southern California was found guilty.

Jovan Vavic was found guilty by a federal jury at Boston of fraud, bribery, and other charges. He refused to comment on the hearing and fled court with his family.

According to prosecutors, Vavic, 60, was a water polo coach at USC. He received $250,000 in bribes to designate unqualified students as water-polo recruits so that they could attend the elite Los Angeles school.

Vavic’s defense claimed that he was doing his best to raise money for the school’s dominant, championship-winning athletic program.

They also claimed that they never lied or took a bribe, and were victims of USC’s desire for its reputation to be protected and covered up. “pervasive culture”Accepting wealthy students who could make donations.

Vavic was arrested in 2019 and the university fired him. “not on trial.”

Nearly 60 people were indicted in Operation Varsity Blues. This included wealthy and famous parents, college coaches, athletic administrators, and college coaches. “Full House”Lori Loughlin, star of The Voice, and Mossimo Giannulli, her fashion designer husband.

Friday will also see the sentencing of Mark Riddell by a judge. He was a former Florida prep school administrator who was paid handsomely to take college entrance tests for wealthy students seeking admission at elite universities.

The Harvard graduate who was a key figure in the scandal revealed that he secretly took the ACT and SAT to correct students’ answers.

Riddell had been cooperating federal authorities in the hopes of receiving a lower sentence. He pleaded guilty in April 2019 to fraud and money laundering conspiracy.

In a filing made before Friday’s hearing, the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rolleins asked the judge to sentence Riddell four months in prison. In their own sentencing memo Riddell’s lawyers argued for one to 2 months in prison. They claimed that Riddell was not the ringleader of this scheme or a university insider like the coaches and administrators.

Riddell was responsible for college entrance exam preparation at IMG Academy in Bradenton. This school is billed as the largest sports academy in the world.

Authorities claim that Rick Singer, the admissions consultant, bribed test administrators so Riddell could pretend to proctor exams for students in order to cheat. Prosecutors claimed that Singer paid Riddell $10,000 per test in order to rig scores.

Prosecutors said Riddell, who was fired by IMG Academy, earned more than $200,000 cheating on over 25 exams.