BOSTON — A former Stanford sailing coach who on Wednesday became the first person to be sentenced in the nation’s largest-ever college admissions fraud prosecution has avoided prison time, receiving a far lighter punishment than prosecutors had sought.

The coach, John Vandemoer, who was accused of taking bribes from a corrupt college consultant, was ordered to spend a single day in jail — time the judge said he had already served — and six months in home confinement as part of two years of supervised release.

Prosecutors had called for a 13-month sentence, and the lighter penalty raised uncertainties about the future of the sprawling case, which has so far brought criminal charges against 50 people, including other coaches, Hollywood actresses and prominent figures from the worlds of law and finance. Yet the outcome of Mr. Vandemoer’s case seemed an imperfect indicator of how cases against others may play out.

Unlike other coaches charged in the admissions scheme, Mr. Vandemoer, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering, did not pocket any money from the bribes. He negotiated with the college consultant at the center of the scandal to designate students as recruits to the Stanford sailing team even though they were not competitive sailors, giving them an advantage in the admissions process. In exchange, the consultant directed hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to the school’s sailing program. </s> CLOSE John Vandemoer's case has unique circumstances meaning his sentence might not signal other "Varsity Blues" defendants will avoid prison. USA TODAY

BOSTON – Former Stanford University head sailing coach John Vandemoer was sentenced Wednesday to home supervision – not prison – for his actions in the nation's college admissions scandal, a blow to prosecutors who had sought to send a strong message to other defendants in the high-profile case.

A federal judge gave Vandemoer two years of supervised release, including the first six months confined to his home, and a $10,000 fine in the first sentencing of the "Varsity Blues" college admissions bribery and cheating case.

He received a prison term of just one day, but it was deemed already served when he was arrested in March. Prosecutors had sought 13 months of prison while Vandemoer's defense fought for probation over incarceration.

Vandemoer, 41, pleaded guilty in March to racketeering charges for accepting $610,000 in bribes from the admissions scheme's mastermind Rick Singer to benefit Stanford's sailing program in exchange for designating college applicants as sailing recruits to get them accepted into the prestigious university.

CLOSE The college admissions scam involving Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman shows how some rich families use a “side door” to game an already unfair education system. Just the FAQs, USA TODAY

More: Ex-Stanford sailing coach faces first sentence in college admissions scandal

Federal Judge Rya Zobel said it's important that Vandemoer be punished "because it's too easy to do this kind of thing" but she didn't think prison was warranted. Vandemoer funneled payments to Stanford's sailing program, not his personal use, she noted, and none of the students tied to his payments attended Stanford as a direct result of his actions.

Vandemoer, joined by his wife, parents and sister outside the courthouse after the hearing, said he takes full responsibility for his actions and accepts the consequences.

"A big part of my coaching philosophy has always been that it's not the mistake that defines you, but it's what you do afterwards," he said. "I'm holding true to those words now in the face of my biggest mistake."

Former Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer addresses media after avoiding prison time for pleading guilty in the college admissions scheme. He says he accepts responsibility for his actions. pic.twitter.com/pUfLebuXgo — Joey Garrison (@joeygarrison) June 12, 2019

Vandemoer is the first of the 22 defendants who have pleaded guilty in the nation's sweeping college admissions scandal to receive a sentence. But because of his case's unique circumstances, his sentence might not signal other defendants will also avoid prison.

Still, the judge was bluntly skeptical of the government's central case, saying that although Vandemoer certainly committed fraud against Stanford, she couldn't determine that the payments he collected were bribes under the federal commercial bribery statute.

“You call them a bribe, but it’s not clear to me what makes it a bribe," Zobel said.

More: Lori Loughlin digs in – and 7 more surprises and takeaways in college admissions scandal

The judge also questioned whether Stanford suffered any losses at all from Vandmoer's actions – noting that no admissions slots were used on under-qualified students – and whether the coach himself gained anything from the transaction.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen cited Vandemoer's salary paid by Stanford as a loss for the school. He said directing the money to the sailing program was "absolutely his gain" because he could buy boats and other sailing equipment that benefit him.

The judge shot back: “So it’s a psychological gain.”

Rosen responded: “It’s not a psychological gain. He had the choice to put (the money) where he wanted.”

Stanford has said the university is in discussions with the California attorney general about an appropriate way for the "tainted" money brought in by Vandemoer to be used for "the public good."

In a brief statement after the sentencing, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said, “We will continue to seek meaningful penalties in these cases.”

Prosecutors, led by Rosen, argued that Vandemoer's sentence should set an example in the historic admissions case, calling prison "the only way to deter similarly situated individuals" who are "entrusted with the power to shape figures."

He told the judge a prison sentence for Vandemoer “will set the tone for this case going forward" – and “send a powerful message” that if a person takes bribes for college admissions, he or she will be criminally prosecuted and go to jail.

He added that the sentence should signal to "honest and hardworking high school students" who are trying to get into college the right way that the wealthy can't pay bribes to undermine the system.

“These kids deserve that. Our society needs that," he said prior to the sentencing. If Vandemoer were to avoid prison, Rosen said, it would be "shortchanging not only the criminal justice system but all those kids in school trying to get in by hard work."

“The danger in this case and others is not an over-sentence but failing to send a message,” he said.

But Vandemoer's defense, led by attorney Robert Fisher, argued that he did not personally profit from the scheme "though he easily could have."

“He is a unique individual in what is a unique and unprecedented case," Fisher said. "No student got in. Money was given to the victim. We have unusual facts.”

"Everyone but Mr. Vandemoer gained something," Fisher said of the 50 overall defendants in the college admissions case that also include famous actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin. "He got nothing. He gave every single dime to sailing, to Stanford. He could have pocketed that. He didn't."

Fisher highlighted letters from some of Vandemoer's former sailing players and others – 27 in all – lauding his character. Vandemoer is married with two children under 2 years old.

“Jail isn’t going to do anything other than punish his family." he said, adding that his client has already lost his job, his housing and health insurance and been the subject of countless media reports. “This is a gentleman whose heart is in the right place."

In March, Vandemoer admitted to designating a female college applicant from China as a sailing recruit in early 2016 after Singer, the scheme's ringleader, promised that the student's family would "endow" sailing coach salaries. Singer, who funneled payments from wealthy parents to carry out the admissions scheme, created a fake sailing profile for the student, but it was too late in the recruitment process, and the student was accepted through the normal admissions process.

More: Mom from China who paid $6.5M to Rick Singer says Stanford daughter a 'victim' of admissions scam

Prosecutors say Singer paid Vandemoer's sailing program $500,000 for his efforts anyway and for "recruiting" future clients.

The initial student has since been revealed as Yusi Zhao from China, whose mother paid $6.5 million to Singer's nonprofit The Key Worldwide Foundation in what prosecutors say was the largest single transaction in the entire scheme. Zhao is no longer at Stanford.

In the spring of 2018, Singer funneled an additional $110,000 into the sailing program for a second student to be designated as a sailing recruit, but the student chose to attend Brown University instead, prosecutors say.

Later that year, Singer promised Vandemoer an additional $160,000 for the sailing program to get a third female student tagged as a sailing recruit, but she ultimately went to Vanderbilt University. By this point. Singer was cooperating with federal investigators and his phone calls with Vandemoer were wiretapped.

The next defendant set to be sentenced in the college admissions scandal is Mark Riddell, a former college counselor at a private high school in Florida, who has pleaded guilty to taking tests for the children of parents who paid bribes to Singer. His sentencing date is set for July 18.

Follow Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/06/12/no-prison-first-defendant-bribery-scandal-college/1429812001/ </s> John Vandemoer, Stanford University's former head sailing coach, leaves the federal courthouse in Boston after being sentenced for his role in the nationwide college admissions cheating scandal on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters </s> On Wednesday, the Stanford sailing coach who pleaded guilty and was fired for his role in the massive, nationwide college admissions cheating scandal will become the first of the 50 counselors, coaches and parents charged in the scheme to be sentenced.

And with the country captivated by a case that has left many seething at how Hollywood celebrities and Silicon Valley executives allegedly bribed their kids into elite colleges, the burning question will be whether John Vandemoer gets sentenced to prison or, as his lawyer argues, just probation.

A former federal prosecutor who has closely followed the case said it’s hard to imagine that the former coach will get no prison time for his involvement in the scandal that involved bribes to athletic coaches and test administrators masterminded by a California college admissions consultant to secure enrollment to USC, Georgetown, Yale and other selective schools.

“The judge in this case wants to send a powerful message to would-be cheaters — you’re going to pay the piper,” said Manny Medrano, a former federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles who specializes in white collar criminal defense.

“I firmly believe he’s going to federal prison. If the judge grants probation to this defendant, the judge is setting the wrong example and tone for the rest of the case.”

Vandemoer pleaded guilty on March 12 to conspiracy to commit racketeering, the day federal prosecutors announced the Operation Varsity Blues case, along with the scheme’s mastermind, William “Rick” Singer, who is not scheduled to be sentenced until September. Medrano said the order in which defendants are sentenced largely reflects their attorneys’ schedules. Among those charged were 33 parents, including Hollywood actresses Felicity Huffman, who pleaded guilty, and Lori Loughlin, who is contesting the charges.

Prosecutors in Boston, where the case was filed, in a sentencing memorandum recommend that Vandemoer be sentenced to 13 months in prison and a year of supervised release for his role in the conspiracy. They noted that is less than the 18 months and year of supervised release Vandemoer could have faced under his plea agreement and well short of the 37 to 46 months they say he could face under sentencing guidelines.

“Over the course of approximately two years, the defendant — the former head sailing coach

 at Stanford University — participated in a sweeping bribery, fraud and money laundering scheme

 that helped secure the admission of students to elite universities over other, more qualified applicants,” prosecutors wrote. “His actions not only deceived and defrauded the university that employed him, but also validated a national cynicism over college admissions by helping wealthy and unscrupulous applicants enjoy an unjust advantage over those who either lack deep pockets or are simply unwilling to cheat to get ahead.”

But Vandemoer’s lawyer, Robert Fisher, argues in a sentencing memorandum that the former coach should receive no prison time and only a probationary sentence. He notes that unlike other coaches caught up in the caper, Vandemoer did not personally receive payment as part of the scheme or secure a student’s fraudulent admission.

Vandemoer steered a total of $770,000 from Singer to Stanford’s sailing program, for which he agreed to recommend enrollment for students with little or no boating experience as recruits to his team.

That included payments of $110,000 and $160,000 on behalf of two students who chose to enroll at other universities before Vandemoer could recommend them as recruits. It also included $500,000 associated with a third student, the daughter of a wealthy Chinese family who reportedly paid Singer $6.5 million to secure her admission to Stanford.

Vandemoer didn’t recommend that student for enrollment as a sailing recruit due to the timing of her application. But she was admitted anyway based in part on an application Singer prepared that included fraudulent sailing credentials. She has since been expelled.

“Mr. Vandemoer failed in one instance to live up to the high expectations he sets for himself,” Fisher wrote in a memorandum to the court. “He fully accepts responsibility for his mistake. Mr. Vandemoer is determined to make amends for this mistake, move on with his life, and continue to provide for his family.”

More than two dozen people — his wife, assistant coach, and former sailors and their parents — wrote letters on Vandemoer’s behalf urging leniency.

His wife, Molly, wrote that she wasn’t angry with her husband of 11 years over the crime that has upended their lives and those of their two children, ages 3 and 1.

“I know he made a mistake,” Molly Vandemoer wrote. “I know it is extremely costly to his livelihood, to our family, etc. But I know he will never do something like this again. I know he will continue to be an upstanding member of society, and I know he will always be the loving, patient, and hard working man I met 13 years ago.”

His assistant and now interim coach, Clinton Hayes, wrote that Vandemoer “truly cared that every one of

 our student athletes left Stanford a better person and productive member of society.” Former sailor Samantha Steele, who graduated in 2016, wrote that “integrity always mattered to John.”

Prosecutors, however, wrote that they already took those factors into account in recommending Vandemoer serve 13 months in prison and bristled at the suggestion that he didn’t benefit from involvement in the scheme and urged a “meaningful term of incarceration.”

“He funneled the criminal proceeds to accounts he controlled for the university sailing program,” prosecutors wrote. “He secretly sold recruitment slots in exchange for payments that were used to benefit the sailing program he ran, and so enhanced his own career prospects.”

Stanford, in a “victim impact statement” submitted to the court, took no position regarding any particular sentence but said Vandemoer’s actions “undermined public confidence in the college admissions system and reflected negatively on Stanford and its hard-working, honest student athletes.”

The university said in an updated statement that it is “working to review, and strengthen wherever necessary, its policies and processes” and is “committed to learning from this deeply unfortunate episode and ensuring the integrity of our programs going forward.”

Stanford said in the impact statement that the university “does not wish to benefit in any way from Mr. Vandemoer’s conduct” and is in discussions with the California attorney general about “an appropriate way for those funds to be used for the public good.”

Former prosecutor Medrano said that with so many of the accused fighting the charges, there is pressure on the court not to signal that they have little to lose by handing down a light sentence. Of the 50 charged, 21 have pleaded or agreed to plead guilty.

“The judge has to set an example for other defendants in this case,” Medrano said. “If he gives a light sentence to someone who pleaded guilty, others will fight this because at the end of the day, they know it’ll be a light sentence.” </s> (BOSTON) — A former head sailing coach at Stanford avoided prison time for agreeing to help students get into the elite university as recruited athletes in exchange for money for his sailing program, a judge ruled Wednesday.

John Vandemoer is the first person to be sentenced in the college admissions bribery case that exposed the lengths that some wealthy parents will go to get their children into the nation’s top schools.

U.S. District Court Judge Rya Zobel sentenced him to one day in prison, which he was deemed to have served. He will pay a $10,000 fine and serve two years of supervised release, including six months of home confinement with electronic monitoring.

Zobel said she believed it was important that Vandemoer be punished because “it’s too easy to do this kind of thing.” But she said she didn’t believe he needed to serve time behind bars, noting the powerful letters of support he received and calling him probably the “least culpable” of those charged in the case because he didn’t take any of the money for himself.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen told the judge that a prison sentence was necessary to send a message to other defendants charged in the case and other people considering on cheating the college admissions system, which he said is “crying out for reform.”

“If we fail to take these crimes seriously, if you give just a slap on the wrist instead of real punishment. … We are short changing not only the criminal justice system, but all those kids in high school who are working hard every day in an effort to improve their own lives and to get into the best school they can honestly and through hard work,” Rosen said.

Prosecutors had sought more than a year behind bars. Vandemoer pleaded guilty in March on the same day that charges were announced in the so-called “Operation Varsity Blues” case against 50 people, including business executives and Hollywood actresses.

Vandemoer stood to address the judge and apologized to his family, friends, the sailing team and Stanford. “I am devastated that the program and the sport would be looked at poorly because of my actions,” he said.

His lawyers had urged the judge to keep him out of prison, noting the coach quickly accepted responsibility for his actions and didn’t pocket any of the money for himself. They say Vandemoer was seeking only to “help the sailing program he loved.”

The admissions consultant at the center of the scheme, Rick Singer, tried to get a student from China into Stanford through Vandemoer’s sailing program in 2016, authorities say. It was too late to secure a spot for the student as a recruit, but the student got in through the normal process.

After the student was admitted, Singer gave $500,000 to Vandemoer’s program to secure his help for future applicants, prosecutors say. Stanford has since been expelled that student.

Vandemoer also got $110,000 for the sailing program from Singer last year in exchange for labeling a prospective student as a recruit, prosecutors say. The student ended up going to another school.

He later agreed to help another student get in as a recruit in exchange for $500,000, prosecutors say. The student also went to another school, but Singer — who was cooperating with authorities by this point — sent $160,000 to the sailing program anyway.

Debra Zumwalt, Stanford vice president and general counsel, said in a letter filed in court that it views the $770,000 it received from Singer’s sham foundation as “tainted” and is trying to determine “an appropriate way for those funds to be used for the public good.”

Several other coaches have also admitted to charges in the case, including Yale women’s soccer coach Rudy Meredith, who is scheduled to be sentenced next week. Other coaches, such as former Georgetown University soccer coach Gordon Ernst, have pleaded not guilty.

Wealthy parents charged include actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin as well as Loughlin’s fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli.

Huffman is among 14 parents who have agreed to plead guilty. The “Desperate Housewives” star has apologized for paying $15,000 to have someone rig her daughter’s SAT score and is scheduled to be sentenced in September.

Loughlin and Giannulli, who are charged with paying $500,000 to get their daughters into the University of Southern California as crew recruits, are fighting the charges. They haven’t publicly commented on the allegations </s> John Vandemoer, a former sailing coach at Stanford University who swapped spots at the elite college for bribes, was spared prison Wednesday, becoming the first person to be sentenced for participating in the widespread college admissions scandal.

In choosing not to incarcerate Vandemoer, U.S. District Judge Rya W. Zobel came down on the side of the disgraced coach, who had pleaded for leniency because he did not pocket the bribes personally and quickly accepted responsibility for his crimes when he was discovered.

Instead of time behind bars, the judge sentenced Vandemoer to one day but deemed that to have already been served. He will spend two years on probation, with the first six months in home confinement, and pay a $10,000 fine.

Vandemoer, 41, did not deserve to go to prison, the judge said, in part because she viewed him as “the least culpable” of the dozens of coaches, parents and others charged in the federal investigation into what authorities say was a nearly decade-long scheme to sneak the children of wealthy families into top universities.

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While there was no doubt “Mr. Vandemoer knew what he was doing was wrong,” Zobel instead placed blame squarely at the feet of William “Rick” Singer, the Newport Beach consultant who has admitted to running the admissions scam and bribing Vandemoer.

Singer has pleaded guilty to several felonies stemming from his brazen scheme, in which he charged affluent parents huge sums to rig their children’s entrance exams or to outright buy their entrance into top-tier colleges by paying off coaches to designate the teens as recruited athletes. He too will be sentenced by Zobel.

The judge’s decision marked a setback for prosecutors from the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston, who have portrayed the case as a badly needed opportunity for the justice system to rein in the role money plays in college admissions and to send a stern message that corruption in higher education will bear consequences.

Before Zobel handed down her sentence, Assistant U.S Atty. Eric Rosen urged the judge to send a “powerful message” and see her decision as one that would “set the tone” for other district judges in Boston who will sentence defendants in the case.

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Rosen, who wanted Vandemoer sentenced to 13 months in prison, warned that a punishment without jail time would amount to “a slap on the wrist” and reinforce the widely held view that the wealthy and well-connected play by their own rules when it comes to getting their kids into top colleges.

A significant time in prison for Vandemoer was “the only way to begin restoring confidence in a college admissions system that most people agree is needlessly unfair,” Rosen wrote in a court filing.

In comments to Zobel and later to reporters outside the courthouse, Vandemoer was contrite, saying he had disgraced himself, brought “a cloud” over Stanford and failed the sailors to whom he had preached integrity over winning.

He apologized to his family, and in particular to his two young children.

In his last-ditch effort to sway the judge before she made her decision, Vandemoer’s attorney, Robert Fisher, said sending the coach to jail would do nothing to deter others from trying to pull off similar crimes. Vandemoer, who was fired from his “dream job,” kicked out of his university housing and lost his family’s health insurance, is already a warning to anyone tempted to follow his example, Fisher said.

“This man,” Fisher added, “has been absolutely crushed.”

Vandemoer pleaded guilty in March to racketeering conspiracy and admitted to taking $610,000 from Singer.

In exchange for the money, which Vandemoer deposited into school accounts and used to buy boats and cover other expenses for his team, the coach designated three children of Singer’s clients as sailing recruits to boost their chances of admission to Stanford. None was a competitive sailor.

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Singer directed $770,000 in three payments to Stanford’s sailing program. Fisher said prosecutors took into account just the first two payments, totaling $610,000. In a victim impact statement to the judge, Stanford said it views the $770,000 as “tainted” and is in talks with California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra to put the money toward “the public good.”

Fisher argued in court papers and before Zobel on Wednesday that prison would be inappropriate because his client, unlike others in the case, had not profited personally and none of the three students won admission because of the illicit maneuvers Vandemoer took on their behalf.

Two of the teens chose to attend other schools. In the case of the third, the athletic scam proved unsuccessful because Singer and Vandemoer initiated it too late in the recruiting season, prosecutors said. The student was eventually admitted to Stanford through the normal application process.

That student, identified by the Los Angeles Times as Yusi Zhao, has been expelled from Stanford. Her mother acknowledged paying Singer $6.5 million after Zhao was admitted in 2017. Singer then directed $500,000 to Vandemoer’s sailing program.

Through an attorney, Zhao’s mother said Singer told her the money was a legitimate donation to the school. No member of the Zhao family has been charged in the investigation, which is ongoing.

Much of Wednesday’s hearing revolved around an arcane legal question of what loss, if any, Stanford had suffered because of Vandemoer’s actions.

In a dispute that could take on significance as the admissions case progresses, Zobel and Rosen sparred over the issue. The judge repeatedly challenged Rosen on his claim that because it is difficult to tally a dollar amount the university lost, the $610,000 Vandemoer collected from Singer should be used as a proxy.

The dollar figures are significant because they are part of the federal guidelines judges refer to when deciding on a sentence. Zobel rejected Rosen’s argument, saying she could see no tangible way Stanford suffered. Her decision could influence other judges when they sentence coaches and parents charged in the case, said Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law who focuses on the federal court system.

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“Technically, they’re not under any obligation to follow it; it’s certainly not binding,” Tobias said. “But on the other hand, she’s a colleague at the courthouse. They’re going to give it serious consideration.” </s> Operation Varsity Blues received its first prison sentence today, and it was...not a big one. A judge sentenced John Vandemoer, ex-coach of Stanford University’s sailing team, to one single day in jail for taking bribe money from Rick Singer, the infamous college admissions scandal’s (alleged) ringleader.

According to CNN, Vandemoer pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to commit racketeering charges, having accepted $110,000 and $160,000 from Singer to falsely designate several Stanford applicants as sailing recruits. Massachusetts Judge Rya Zobel said Vandemoer, who was fired from Stanford shortly after the scandal news broke, “is probably the least culpable” of the 50 people charged, since he used Singer’s money to purchase equipment for the sailing team instead of keeping it for himself.

Still, Assistant US Attorney Eric Rosen recommended he be sentenced to 13 months behind bars:

“His actions not only deceived and defrauded the university that employed him, but also validated a national cynicism over college admissions by helping wealthy and unscrupulous applicants enjoy an unjust advantage over those who either lack deep pockets or are simply unwilling to cheat to get ahead,” Rosen wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed on June 7.

It is true that Vandemoer’s actions were less egregious than those of, say, two parents who *allegedly* paid $500,000 to cheat their daughters’ way into the University of Southern California (and won’t own up to it). Zobel also fined him $10,000 and sentenced him to six months house arrest and two years probation, so it’s not like he’s off totally scot-free.

But considering that struggling mothers like Kelley Williams-Bolar, who falsified records in hopes of getting their children in better public schools, were sentenced to more jail time than a man who helped rich kids cheat their way into one of the country’s most prestigious universities, it’s clear the system is still skewed in privilege’s favor. </s> Sailing Coach Will Be First Person Sentenced In College Admissions Scandal

Federal prosecutors want a former Stanford sailing coach to get 13 months in prison, when he becomes be the first to be sentenced in the college admissions scam on Wednesday. </s> Former Stanford sailing coach, the 1st person sentenced in the college admissions bribery scheme, avoids prison time

BOSTON (AP) — Former Stanford sailing coach, the 1st person sentenced in the college admissions bribery scheme, avoids prison time.
Former Stanford University sailing coach John Vandemoer is sentenced to two-years probation, with the first six months to be served under house arrest. Vandemoer is the first person to be sentenced among the 50 individuals indicted on federal charges related to the U.S. college admissions bribery scheme.