L.A. Man Who Pretended Son Was Water Polo Star Is Sentenced to 4 Months in College Admissions Scandal
A Los Angeles businessman has been sentenced to four months in prison for shelling out $250,000 so his son could attend the University of Southern California as a water polo recruit.
Devin Sloane, 53, is the second high-profile parent who has been sentenced for his part in the college admissions scandal.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwanialso ordered Sloane, who pleaded guilty in May to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, to complete 500 hours of community service over a two-year period and pay a fine of $95,000.
The USC graduate and founder of the Los Angeles water systems company AquaTecture was also sentenced to two years of supervised release.
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“There are no words to justify my behavior nor will I offer any excuses or justification,” he said Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. “The crime I committed is unacceptable. In my heart and my soul I want what’s best for my son. I realize now my actions were the antithesis of that.”
Prosecutors asked for a sentence of one year and one day in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $75,000.
Sloane’s lawyers asked the judge for a more lenient sentence of three years of supervised release, a $75,000 fine and 2,000 hours of community service, NBC Boston reports.
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According to prosecutors, Sloane conspired with disgraced admissions consultant William “Rick” Singer and others to have his son admitted to USC as a water polo recruit, paying $250,000 to Singer’s sham charity, Key Worldwide Foundation, which would be used to bribe officials on the admissions staff.
RELATED: Huffman Sentenced to 14 Days in College Admissions Scandal
As part of the scam, Sloane bought water polo gear online and “photographed his son purporting to play water polo in the family swimming pool, later hiring a graphic design firm to manipulate the photos to make them appear more realistic,” according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release obtained by PEOPLE.
Last week, actress Felicity Huffman was sentenced to 14 days in prison for paying Singer $15,000 to have a proctor change her daughter Sophia’s SAT scores after she took the test.
Singer pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges, including racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and obstruction of justice. As part of his guilty plea, he agreed to cooperate with the FBI to gather incriminating evidence against his alleged co-conspirators.
According to the 204-page affidavit in support of a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in Boston, authorities alleged that Singer recorded phone calls and sent incriminating emails at the direction of the FBI.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Sloane was one of 15 parents who admitted to conspiring with Singer in the college scam. Nineteen parents, including Fuller House star Lori Loughlin and husband J. Mossimo Giannulli, have pleaded not guilty, the paper reports.
Loughlin and Giannulli allegedly paid $500,000 to Singer to falsely designate daughters Olivia Jade Giannulli and Isabella Rose Giannulli as recruits to the University of Southern California crew team, though neither actually participated in the sport.
