A former Canadian Soccer League player has been sentenced to three months in prison for hiring someone to take the SAT in place of his two children as part of the college admission cheat scheme.
A former Canadian Football League player was sentenced to three months in prison on Wednesday for hiring someone to take the SAT in place of his two children, while a California mother received five weeks behind bars for paying $ 9,000 to take online classes on behalf of your child.
David Sidoo, who played professional soccer for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and BC Lions, bowed his head and cried when US District Judge Nathaniel Gorton rebuked him for his actions. Sidoo told the judge that he is “deeply ashamed.”
“I have no excuses. I broke the law. I pleaded guilty to a crime and now I must pay my shares, “said Sidoo.
Earlier on Wednesday, Karen Littlefair of Newport Beach, California asked American District Judge Allison Burroughs for clemency before being sentenced to more than a month in prison for the online course scam. Littlefair said she was “truly sorry” and called the experience a “nightmare” for her family.
“I acted out of love for my son, but I ended up hurting him a lot,” said Littlefair, 57.
Both Sidoo and Littlefair appeared before Boston federal court judges via video conference due to the coronavirus pandemic.
They are among more than 50 people accused in the college cheating plan involving wealthy parents and sports coaches at elite universities across the country. Authorities say the parents worked with the admissions consultant at the center of the scam, Rick Singer, to have someone cheat on their children’s tests or admit them to selective schools with false sports credentials.
Sidoo was CEO of the mining company Advantage Lithium Corp. when he was arrested last year. He was also a founding shareholder of an oil and gas company that sold in 2010 for more than $ 600 million.
The Vancouver businessman paid Singer $ 200,000 to have someone impersonate his children using a fake ID to ensure higher SAT scores, prosecutors said. Sidoo also worked with Singer to craft an admission essay for his son with a false story about the teenager being held at gunpoint by members of the Los Angeles gang and saved by a rival gang member named “Nugget,” the people said. prosecutors.
After Littlefair’s son was put on academic probation by Georgetown University, she hired Singer’s company to take four online classes on his behalf so that he could graduate in 2018, prosecutors said. Three of the courses were taken in Georgetown, prosecutors said, while one was taken online at Arizona State University and then transferred to Georgetown.
Littlefair demanded a cheat discount after the person earned a C in one of the courses, authorities said.
“A little thought would have been a discount on that. The rating was a C and the experience was a nightmare, ”he told Singer’s accountant in an email, according to court documents.
Burroughs told Littlefair that he taught his son, “It’s okay to cheat, it’s okay to take shortcuts.”
“You are supposed to get more from earning it and working towards it, and I think it is a lesson your child needs to learn and unfortunately he will learn it the hard way here,” said the judge.
Almost 30 parents have pleaded guilty in the case.
Others include “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, who admitted to paying half a million dollars to take her two daughters to the University of Southern California as fake recruits.
They are scheduled to be sentenced next month. If the judge accepts his plea agreements, Loughlin will be sentenced to two months in prison and Giannulli will be sentenced to five months.
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