Ex Stanford Sailing Coach To Serve No Prison Time: Report

PALO ALTO, CA — The former Stanford University sailing coach embroiled in the sweeping college admissions bribery scandal avoided prison time Wednesday as the first defendant to be sentenced for racketeering and conspiracy in federal court in Boston, the Washington Post reported.

U.S. District Senior Judge Rya W. Zobel sentenced John Vandemoer, who was consequently fired by the prestigious Palo Alto university, to one day in jail but deemed the 24 hours already served, the Post added.

However, Vandemoer was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and two years of supervised release, including six months of home confinement, according to the Washington, D.C. newspaper. It was a lighter sentence than what prosecutors sought: 13 months in prison and a year of supervised release.

But Zobel pointed out the embattled coach did not profit from the Varsity Blues operation that pegged a Newport Beach college recruiter William "Rick" Singer against federal investigators who pieced together an investigation that reached the Hollywood elite and other Silicon Valley wealthy parents.

Stanford's renowned sailing program received up to $770,000 in three gifts accepted by the university's former sailing coach John Vandemoer. The university is still reviewing how to proceed with ethically and properly releasing or dispensing that money, after its disgraced coach pleaded guilty to conspiracy allegations for improperly tying up two spots for students and inflating their sailing credentials.

Read the full Washington Post story here.

See also

• Mired By College Admissions Scandal, Stanford Responds
• Palo Alto Couples Requests To Dismiss College Admissions Case