Filing By Convicted Varsity Blues Parent Hints At Appeal Strategy

LYNNFIELD, MA — A Lynnfield man convicted of trying to buy admission for his three children into elite universities in the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal is asking to delay his 15-month prison sentence until his appeal is heard.

In a motion filed in federal court Friday, attorneys for John B. Wilson, 62, of Lynnfield, made several arguments that shed light on their strategy for the appeal. Wilson, the head of a private equity firm and former Staples Inc. executive, has received the longest sentence in the ongoing prosecutions to date.

"Mr. Wilson’s appeal presents a host of complex, unresolved questions that could well lead to acquittal, a new trial, or partial reversal resulting in a materially shorter sentence," Wilson's defense team wrote in the request for Wilson to remain free on bail until the appeal is decided.

Wilson is accused of paying $1 million to get his daughters accepted to Harvard and Stanford, and another $220,000 to get his son admitted as a water polo recruit at the University of Southern California. He is also accused of wire fraud and filing a false tax return.

Prosecutors had sought a stiffer, 21-month prison term for Wilson, and during trial honed in on the FBI wiretaps to show that Wilson was in on the scheme.

But in their motion, the defense attorneys argued the prosecution's legal theories have divided other judges and that Wilson was not involved in a conspiracy because he had no contact with other parents. They also argue the trial judge excluded evidence favorable for Wilson and that he does not pose a flight risk.

"The government maintains that Mr. Wilson committed 'bribery,' under the honest services statute by seeking to donate to college athletic programs in purported exchange for his children’s admission," the motion said. "Yet there is no precedent for treating as a ‘bribe’ a payment to the institution that is the purported victim of the offense."

In addition to the 15-month federal prison sentence, Wilson was ordered to pay $288,546 in fines and restitution, serve 400 hours community service and serve two years of supervised release.

All told, nearly 60 people were charged in an investigation dubbed by authorities as "Operation Varsity Blues," including athletic coaches at Georgetown, Yale and other prestigious schools.

"Is there a two-for-one special? If you got twins?" Wilson asked Rick Singer, the admissions consultant at the center of the scheme, in a phone conversation caught on an FBI wiretap.

In one call, Wilson asked Singer which sports "would be best" for his twin daughters. Singer responded that it "doesn't matter" and that he would "make them a sailor or something" because Wilson had a home on Cape Cod.

Wilson was convicted on a range of fraud and bribery charges in October along with Gamal Abdelaziz, a former casino executive sentenced last month to serve one year and one day in federal prison. The two men are so far the only parents among the dozens implicated in the scheme to go to trial.