DOJ busts dozens in massive college admission cheating scheme

[KMFJD]

Apparently you're childless.

hahahah

 

[hal2kilo]

Support your kid(s) go to jail. Fail to support your kid(s) go to jail.

Flip a coin.

So you're having a problem about whether to commit a crime or not commit a crime? Seems like someone needs to do some soul searching about right and wrong. Cause that's only a false choice your ruminating on.

 

[woolfe9998]

Support your kid(s) go to jail. Fail to support your kid(s) go to jail.

Flip a coin.

Wait, are you actually arguing that not illegally bribing school officials and cheating on standardized tests is a form of child neglect?

Serious question: were you high when you wrote that?

 

[hal2kilo]

Damn they paid between 100K and $6.5 Million to get their kids into schools. How fucking stupid is your kid that you have to pay out $6.5 Million? Please be Don JR. Please be Don Jr.

Just put the 6.5 million in a trust fund. They'll be OK and won't waste other serious students time.

 

[Viper1j]

Wait, are you actually arguing that not illegally bribing school officials and cheating on standardized tests is a form of child neglect?

Serious question: were you high when you wrote that?

I wasn't talking about the SATs when I said that.

 

[woolfe9998]

Good editorial makes a persuasive case for why these parents need to serve time.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/16/opin...d-justice-in-college-scandal-jones/index.html

Which includes examples of poorer (and blacker) parents being sent to jail for the comparatively minor offense of saying their kids lived with a relative in order to get the kid into a better school.

 

[dawp]

Good editorial makes a persuasive case for why these parents need to serve time.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/16/opin...d-justice-in-college-scandal-jones/index.html

Which includes examples of poorer (and blacker) parents being sent to jail for the comparatively minor offense of saying their kids lived with a relative in order to get the kid into a better school.

when they tried to fix this in TX by implementing a so called robinhood plan by taking cash from richer districts to improve the poorer districts the parents in the rich districts had a conniption fit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood_plan

and then there is shit like this
https://www.thenation.com/article/school-district-secessions-gather-speed-a-new-report-shows/
and the right says racism isn't a problem.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

when they tried to fix this in TX by implementing a so called robinhood plan by taking cash from richer districts to improve the poorer districts the parents in the rich districts had a conniption fit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood_plan

and then there is shit like this
https://www.thenation.com/article/school-district-secessions-gather-speed-a-new-report-shows/
and the right says racism isn't a problem.

I don't believe racism is the primary motive. I think the wealthy trying to build bastions are. It's the same motivator for HOA's.

 

[dawp]

I don't believe racism is the primary motive. I think the wealthy trying to build bastions are. It's the same motivator for HOA's.

I think some is, they just don't make it obvious, especially on that second link about the districts, most of those wanting to split are majority white.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I don't believe racism is the primary motive. I think the wealthy trying to build bastions are. It's the same motivator for HOA's.

I believe that sentiment is directly related to racism, or rather you can't separate that attempt to isolate based on perceived superiority due to wealth from similar sentiment based on race. I've tried to explain to people that the same underlying mentality behind the blatant (and not so blatant) racism of the past is the same one driving the greed against all that is rampant today. And you cannot deal with one without dealing with the other, because they are intertwined in this country (literally was built on it, and it persists to this day). But we literally fought twice to make the one not openly acceptable, so they changed to claim the other, knowing that because of the racism, that it would likely achieve the same results as its not a coincidence that many groups that have been discriminated against tend to also struggle economically (which was by design).

And that's the thing that gets me, is saying you don't want to mix with some other group based on economics, a lot of those people sure as hell are using the same language that was used when it was about race. But they've been trained to not openly tout that (and have thus convinced themselves that they are not racist, after all they never said anything about race!). But its not a coincidence.

At minimum, I sure hope none of those assholes complain about safe spaces, not that they'd ever notice their blinding hypocrisy with their near total lack of real self awareness.

 

[Viper1j]

Good editorial makes a persuasive case for why these parents need to serve time.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/16/opin...d-justice-in-college-scandal-jones/index.html

Which includes examples of poorer (and blacker) parents being sent to jail for the comparatively minor offense of saying their kids lived with a relative in order to get the kid into a better school.

Not news.. I come from a law enforcement family, and we've always known that the US has the best justice money can buy.

Consider this: If OJ Simpson had been a bus driver from South Central, today he would be Orenthal the bus driver on death row.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I believe that sentiment is directly related to racism, or rather you can't separate that attempt to isolate based on perceived superiority due to wealth from similar sentiment based on race. I've tried to explain to people that the same underlying mentality behind the blatant (and not so blatant) racism of the past is the same one driving the greed against all that is rampant today. And you cannot deal with one without dealing with the other, because they are intertwined in this country (literally was built on it, and it persists to this day). But we literally fought twice to make the one not openly acceptable, so they changed to claim the other, knowing that because of the racism, that it would likely achieve the same results as its not a coincidence that many groups that have been discriminated against tend to also struggle economically (which was by design).

And that's the thing that gets me, is saying you don't want to mix with some other group based on economics, a lot of those people sure as hell are using the same language that was used when it was about race. But they've been trained to not openly tout that (and have thus convinced themselves that they are not racist, after all they never said anything about race!). But its not a coincidence.

At minimum, I sure hope none of those assholes complain about safe spaces, not that they'd ever notice their blinding hypocrisy with their near total lack of real self awareness.

Reading comprehension. Racism is certainly part of it just, not the primary motivator. They are intertwined and, I agree about the lack of self awareness. However, the one thing they fear more than minorities is poverty.

 

[Sunburn74]

Good editorial makes a persuasive case for why these parents need to serve time.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/16/opin...d-justice-in-college-scandal-jones/index.html

Which includes examples of poorer (and blacker) parents being sent to jail for the comparatively minor offense of saying their kids lived with a relative in order to get the kid into a better school.

I'm still not convinced any of these parents should serve time.
Also it's absolutely criminal that poor mothers were sent to jail for enrolling their kids in public schools with addresses of family members. Absolutely criminal. Whatever judge thought that was a just sentence will have a very special place in hell reserved for them.

 

[HomerJS]

Not news.. I come from a law enforcement family, and we've always known that the US has the best justice money can buy.

Consider this: If OJ Simpson had been a bus driver from South Central, today he would be Orenthal the bus driver on death row.

Good pull Chris.

This case just like Jussie Smollet makes me laugh because once every 24 years a rick black man takes advantage of the criminal justice system and some people get bent out of shape. Meanwhile people of color are abused almost daily.

Anyone remember this case??
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo...t-rikers-island-without-trial-commits-suicide

 

[Jhhnn]

I'm still not convinced any of these parents should serve time.

Of course they should do time. Not a lot- just a little, like Martha Stewart. Otherwise we're putting a price on Justice the same way they put a price on getting their kids into preferred colleges. Having the money to go full boat on any number of high quality schools for your kids means you don't have to cheat to do your best by them.

 

[woolfe9998]

Loughlin and her husband are mulling whether or not to go to trial in this. It's a huge gamble, given that she faces more jail time than if she cut a plea deal, even now that new charges were added. Also, if she goes to trial she is claiming innocence meaning she is precluded from ever making a public apology. That last part means permanent destruction of her reputation and career. This is the new part I wanted to highlight, a preview of her defense at trial:

The source, who previously told PEOPLE the couple didn’t intend to do anything illegal, maintains that they believe the evidence will eventually exonerate them.
“Everyone has seen snippets of the evidence, but there’s a lot more out there,” says the source. “When you look at it in context, you can argue that this is a woman who didn’t understand exactly what she was doing — and she was being counseled and guided by a man who this was his area of expertise. When the evidence comes out, she’ll have a case to make.”
The source adds: “At this point, if she pleads guilty, she feels like the mitigating evidence will never see the light of day.”
A trial date has not yet been set.

https://people.com/crime/lori-loughlin-wants-trial-save-reputation-avoid-jail-says-source/


This sounds like another ignorance of the law defense to me. In the law, we call this the "mistake of law" defense. As distinguished from "mistake of fact." Mistake of law only works in very rare situations like when you're relying on a cop telling you that something is legal.

https://www.justia.com/criminal/defenses/mistake/

A good illustration of the difference between mistake of law and mistake of fact is say, a man goes hunting in a place where it is not legal to hunt that season. If he just didn't know it was illegal to hunt there that season, it isn't a defense. But if he mistakenly thought he was on an adjacent property where it was legal to hunt, that would be a legal defense.

This came up with Don Jr. in the Mueller probe so it's kind of a hot topic right now. In Loughlin's case, her mistake would have to be that she thought the money was Singer's consulting fee, and literally did not know anyone was bribed. If she knew someone was being bribed but didn't know it was illegal, it isn't a valid defense. Meaning she and her husband are screwed.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I don't believe racism is the primary motive. I think the wealthy trying to build bastions are. It's the same motivator for HOA's.

I think you're pretty spot on. In the game of NIMBY - wealth is the primary motivator.

Me and the wife are looking at homes right now - and we were out in the suburbs in a nice neighborhood. In the backyard of the house, there was an upstairs patio where you could view and see the scenery behind the house and over the backyard. There was a large patch of land that was there (since it faced the entrance to the neighborhood) - and just based on the fact that they will likely do something over-time such as build a gas station there that the home would likely drop in value when that was the view.

 

[dud]

L.A.’s Elite on Edge as Prosecutors Pursue More Parents in Admissions Scandal


http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime...s-in-admissions-scandal/ar-AAAM29V?ocid=ientp


"Federal prosecutors are pursuing a new set of parents in the college admissions fraud scandal, sending ripples of fear through elite circles in Southern California and stirring speculation about which well-heeled executive or celebrity might be the next to be charged.

The prosecutors have informed some of the parents — the exact number is unclear — that they are under investigation in the nation’s largest-ever college admissions probe, according to four defense lawyers. During a trip to Los Angeles in April, the lead prosecutor conferred with lawyers for at least two of these parents.

At the same time, defense lawyers say that a larger array of parents is worried that they, too, will be targeted and is scrambling to hire lawyers and figure out what to do. And, even with these new lines of investigation underway, prosecutors said that they have sent target letters to three students, raising the prospect that the students could face criminal charges and compounding their families’ anxieties.

William Singer, the college consultant at the center of the scheme, was based in Newport Beach, and many of his clients were in the Los Angeles area. Some of those clients are now grappling with a secret, nerve-racking waiting game, while fellow parents openly gloat about cheaters getting their due or whisper about which high school senior might have benefited from some shady help.
“For many of these people, this is the only thing they can think about,” said one defense lawyer in Los Angeles whose firm represents multiple parents who have not been charged, some of whom have been in contact with the government. He declined to be quoted by name, citing concerns about how that might affect his firm’s clients.

He said these clients have watched as the 33 parents already charged have been publicly shamed. They worry that they, too, could be exposed for having ties to Mr. Singer, and that, like the parents already charged, they could have been caught on recorded phone calls talking about their children and their prospects for college.

This story is based on interviews with seven defense lawyers and more than a dozen parents at Los Angeles private schools where families have been implicated in the scandal."

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

L.A.’s Elite on Edge as Prosecutors Pursue More Parents in Admissions Scandal


http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime...s-in-admissions-scandal/ar-AAAM29V?ocid=ientp


"Federal prosecutors are pursuing a new set of parents in the college admissions fraud scandal, sending ripples of fear through elite circles in Southern California and stirring speculation about which well-heeled executive or celebrity might be the next to be charged.

The prosecutors have informed some of the parents — the exact number is unclear — that they are under investigation in the nation’s largest-ever college admissions probe, according to four defense lawyers. During a trip to Los Angeles in April, the lead prosecutor conferred with lawyers for at least two of these parents.

At the same time, defense lawyers say that a larger array of parents is worried that they, too, will be targeted and is scrambling to hire lawyers and figure out what to do. And, even with these new lines of investigation underway, prosecutors said that they have sent target letters to three students, raising the prospect that the students could face criminal charges and compounding their families’ anxieties.

William Singer, the college consultant at the center of the scheme, was based in Newport Beach, and many of his clients were in the Los Angeles area. Some of those clients are now grappling with a secret, nerve-racking waiting game, while fellow parents openly gloat about cheaters getting their due or whisper about which high school senior might have benefited from some shady help.
“For many of these people, this is the only thing they can think about,” said one defense lawyer in Los Angeles whose firm represents multiple parents who have not been charged, some of whom have been in contact with the government. He declined to be quoted by name, citing concerns about how that might affect his firm’s clients.

He said these clients have watched as the 33 parents already charged have been publicly shamed. They worry that they, too, could be exposed for having ties to Mr. Singer, and that, like the parents already charged, they could have been caught on recorded phone calls talking about their children and their prospects for college.

This story is based on interviews with seven defense lawyers and more than a dozen parents at Los Angeles private schools where families have been implicated in the scandal."

Oh I feel so bad for them! Those poor hollywood elites.

 

[DrunkenSano]

Affluenza must be such a difficult and painful illness to deal with. I feel so, so sorry for these elites. Whatever will they do.

 

[hal2kilo]

Oh I feel so bad for them! Those poor hollywood elites.

Newport Beach /OC has little to do with Hollywood culture.

 

[woolfe9998]

L.A.’s Elite on Edge as Prosecutors Pursue More Parents in Admissions Scandal


http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime...s-in-admissions-scandal/ar-AAAM29V?ocid=ientp


"Federal prosecutors are pursuing a new set of parents in the college admissions fraud scandal, sending ripples of fear through elite circles in Southern California and stirring speculation about which well-heeled executive or celebrity might be the next to be charged.

The prosecutors have informed some of the parents — the exact number is unclear — that they are under investigation in the nation’s largest-ever college admissions probe, according to four defense lawyers. During a trip to Los Angeles in April, the lead prosecutor conferred with lawyers for at least two of these parents.

At the same time, defense lawyers say that a larger array of parents is worried that they, too, will be targeted and is scrambling to hire lawyers and figure out what to do. And, even with these new lines of investigation underway, prosecutors said that they have sent target letters to three students, raising the prospect that the students could face criminal charges and compounding their families’ anxieties.

William Singer, the college consultant at the center of the scheme, was based in Newport Beach, and many of his clients were in the Los Angeles area. Some of those clients are now grappling with a secret, nerve-racking waiting game, while fellow parents openly gloat about cheaters getting their due or whisper about which high school senior might have benefited from some shady help.
“For many of these people, this is the only thing they can think about,” said one defense lawyer in Los Angeles whose firm represents multiple parents who have not been charged, some of whom have been in contact with the government. He declined to be quoted by name, citing concerns about how that might affect his firm’s clients.

He said these clients have watched as the 33 parents already charged have been publicly shamed. They worry that they, too, could be exposed for having ties to Mr. Singer, and that, like the parents already charged, they could have been caught on recorded phone calls talking about their children and their prospects for college.

This story is based on interviews with seven defense lawyers and more than a dozen parents at Los Angeles private schools where families have been implicated in the scandal."

Only those who did something wrong are afraid right now.

I actually know someone quite well who called Singer to inquire about using his services to get her son into college. After speaking with him she declined because she thought he was too expensive. Even though he didn't suggest anything illegal in the initial call, needless to say, she's extremely happy she made that decision.

 

[allisolm]

Well, the first one was sentenced today and all the rest better be shaking in their boots.

John Vandemoer, former Stanford University sailing coach, was sentenced to one day in prison, which is deemed served.

He was also sentenced to two years of supervised release, with the first six months in home confinement, and was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.

Such draconian punishment. That'll teach him.



https://www.npr.org/2019/06/12/7319...erson-sentenced-in-college-admissions-scandal

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Well, the first one was sentenced today and all the rest better be shaking in their boots.

John Vandemoer, former Stanford University sailing coach, was sentenced to one day in prison, which is deemed served.

He was also sentenced to two years of supervised release, with the first six months in home confinement, and was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.

Such draconian punishment. That'll teach him.



https://www.npr.org/2019/06/12/7319...erson-sentenced-in-college-admissions-scandal

Holy shit 18-30 hours in jail & a $10k fine to make hundreds of thousands. Fuck sign me up for $60k in fines and a bit under a week in jail.

 

[brycejones]

Holy shit 18-30 hours in jail & a $10k fine to make hundreds of thousands. Fuck sign me up for $60k in fines and a bit under a week in jail.

The evidence is he didn’t pocket the money and instead spent it on the sailing program. What he did was wrong, his career is toast, he is a felon, and has to pay a fine so he didn’t exactly get off.