Oklahoma residents who have followed the 2019 college admissions scandal may be interested to learn that a 49-year-old Hot Pocket heiress has been sentenced for her part in the scam. The woman was ordered to serve five months in prison and pay $250,000. She is one of 53 people who paid money to a consultant to get their children into college. The consultant has already admitted to presenting his client’s children as fake recruits for athletic universities and facilitating cheating on college entrance exams.
The woman admitted that she paid more than $300,000 to a consultant who then used cheating and fraudulent means to get the woman’s daughters into the college of their choice. About $100,000 of this money was given to the consultant’s associate who took the ACT for one daughter. The remaining $200,000 was used to facilitate the admission of her daughter into the University of Southern California as a fake volleyball recruit.
Federal prosecutors originally requested a 21-month prison sentence for the heiress for her part in the fraud. The woman’s defense attorneys sought probation instead of prison time. This was rejected by the judge who said that the heiress deserved to spend time in prison for her part in corrupting the college admissions system. The colleges that had offered her children admission have since rescinded their offers.
The widespread use of technology is one reason why some analysts say that white-collar crimes are on the rise. Many people who commit white-collar offenders don’t have a criminal history and are not considered a “danger” to the community. For this reason, a lawyer might be able to get a more lenient sentence for a client accused of committing a white-collar crime.
