Peninsula Parents Plead Guilty To College Admissions Scam

BOSTON, MA — A prominent Hillsborough couple pleaded guilty Wednesday in the largest college admissions cheating scandal in U.S. history.

Davina Isackson, 55, and her husband 61-year-old Bruce Isackson, the president of a real estate development firm in Woodside, agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to get their daughters into USC and UCLA as bogus athletic recruits. The couple pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Bruce Isackson also pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS. The pair could face significant prison time.

They join a list of nearly three dozen elite parents to plead guilty after they were caught scheming to buy unfair advantages for their children. More than a dozen more are fighting the charges, and prosecutors expect to file new charges against still more families, as of yet, unnamed in the scheme.

Federal prosecutors indicted dozens of people — including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, CEOs and college coaches — in the alleged cheating scheme for elite college admissions. According to prosecutors, parents paid a Newport Beach college prep business as much as $75,000 to have someone take SAT or ACT exams for their children and millions to have their children admitted as bogus athletic recruits. The scheme also involved the bribing of college coaches to identify the students as recruited athletes, exaggerating their abilities to boost their standings in the admission process. In some cases, the students' athletic resumes were pure fiction, according to prosecutors.

Such was the case with the Isackson's daughters, according to prosecutors.

Pleased with the results of the scheme, Davina Isackson emailed the college prep business, “I know it has been a rough ride but I thank you from the bottom of my heart and soul for your persistence, creativity and commitment towards helping [our daughter]” according to court documents.

After 33 wealthy parents were charged and arrested in March in what officials have dubbed the biggest such case ever prosecuted by the Justice Department, the Isacksons have said they take full responsibility for their “bad judgement” in which they paid $600,000 in shares of stock to admissions consultant Rick Singer to get their daughters into USC and the University of California Los Angeles.

Singer pleaded guilty earlier to being the key behind the cheating scam that had college coaches and other insiders taking bribes to get children into schools.

The Isacksons also underpaid their federal income taxes by deducting the bribe payments as purported charitable contributions.

The charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or more. The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the money laundering. The charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States provides for a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.

The Isacksons are slated to return to court on July 31.

It’s a scandal that combines the threat of prison time with public humiliation for privileged families, and it has many unnamed suspects fretting about their fates. A New York Times report Wednesday outlines a climate of fear among prominent families, who are lawyering up in anticipation of a new round of charges. In all more than 50 people including parents, college coaches and test proctors have already been charged in the case. The case revolves around families applying to the likes of USC, UCLA, Yale, Stanford, Wake Forest and Georgetown.

Eric S. Rosen, the lead federal prosecutor in the case, set off a new round of speculation Monday when he announced in a Boston courtroom that there may be additional students who were admitted to USC as fake athletic recruits than has already been made public.

The Department of Justice confirmed the ongoing investigation and the possibility of additional charges but declined to address specifics.

College Admission Scandal Coverage on Patch:

• 2 More Pleading Guilty In College Admissions Scandal
• Lori Loughlin Pleads Not Guilty In Admissions Bribery Case
• Federal Jury Indicts Lori Loughlin In College Admissions
• Desperate Housewives' Felicity Huffman, 13 Others To Plead Guilty In College Admissions Scam

—Patch reporters Paige Austin and Jenna Fisher co-authored this story.