BOSTON — The first trial in the Operation Varsity Blues cases associated with the 2019 college admissions scandal began in federal court Monday for Lynnfield parent John B. Wilson.
Members of the jury heard opening statements in the trial of Wilson and his co-defendant, Gamal Abdelaziz, both of whom are accused of paying money to college admissions counselor William “Rick” Singer to have their children falsely admitted to prestigious colleges.
According to the prosecution, Wilson allegedly paid Singer $220,000 to have his son admitted to the University of Southern California (USC) as a water polo recruit, as well as $1.5 million to have his twin daughters admitted to Harvard and Stanford universities.
Michael Kendall, attorney for Wilson, claimed Monday that Wilson believed the payments were legitimate donations to Singer’s foundation, Key Worldwide Foundation, and that he had been “bamboozled” by Singer. Because Wilson did not know the money was being used for bribes, Kendall said, he was innocent of the conspiracy charges he is being tried for.
“Mr. Singer never said the donation was a bribe. He said exactly the opposite. It was an accepted fundraising program,” Kendall said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Wright said in her opening statement that Wilson paid Singer to create a false profile for his son, John Wilson Jr., embellishing his accomplishments as a member of his high-school water polo team in order to gain admission to USC. Singer called this approach the “side door” to admissions. Wright also alleged that Wilson later agreed to pay Singer to go through the process again, having his twin daughters admitted as athletes in sports they did not play.
“You will hear Singer tell Wilson that he could not get both of his daughters into Stanford because the sailing coach, he had to recruit some real sailors … so that Stanford would not catch on,” Wright told the jury. “You will hear defendant John Wilson actually laugh in response to that.”
Kendall disputed this, saying that while Singer did send the falsified profile to Wilson by email, there was no evidence that Wilson ever even opened the email attachment or knew that the profile was inaccurate.
Wilson’s son did join the water polo team at USC as a “red shirt,” or a player who attended practices but did not play, one of 13 such players in that year’s freshman class. He left the team after his first season because of a concussion.
Wright did acknowledge that Singer was not always forthcoming with the parents involved in the scheme, noting that he did not tell the parents that he kept a large chunk of their money for himself, or told them that the money was going to the schools’ athletics programs when it was actually going directly to his contacts. However, she said, Singer was clear with the parents that their money was directly going to securing a spot at their targeted school, and provided money-back guarantees if the admission was rescinded.
“Whichever way the money flowed, Singer made clear to the parents that, in exchange for their payments, the coach or athletic department insider would secure an athletic recruitment slot for their children, which would effectively guarantee their admission,” Wright said.
Attorneys for Abdelaziz, a Las Vegas casino executive, made separate opening arguments from Wilson’s attorneys, but similarly denied that he was aware that his payments were being used as bribes. Abdelaziz is accused of allegedly paying Singer to have his daughter, Sabrina, admitted to USC as a basketball player, despite the fact that she stopped playing the sport during high school.
Prosecutors also began direct examination Monday of witness Bruce Isackson. Isackson pleaded guilty in 2019 for his involvement in the scheme, in which he and his wife, Davina, paid $600,000 to have their daughters admitted to University of California – Los Angeles and USC, both by submitting false athletic profiles and having his youngest daughter’s ACT score changed.
Isackson told the court that he knew that the money he gave to Singer’s foundation was in exchange for getting his children falsely admitted to the schools, and that without those payments, he did not believe they would have been admitted.
Examination of Isackson will resume Tuesday. The trial is expected to last a few weeks.
Singer pleaded guilty but has not yet been sentenced. He cooperated with the FBI and IRS investigation, agreeing to record phone calls and conversations with many of the parents involved. Singer will not testify in the trial.
More than 40 people have been charged in the case, including parents and coaches.
In May, Wilson filed a lawsuit in Essex Superior Court against Netflix and the producers of the documentary “Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal” over his family’s portrayal in the film.
