Former Georgetown coach gets two and a half years in a bribe scandal

Former George who once led the family of former President Barack Obama Town University tennis coach was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on Friday for putting over $ 3 million in bribes in his pocket instead of helping wealthy parents trick their children into school. rice field.

Gordon Ernst's ruling has been inherited in a vast college admission scandal that sheds light on the length of time some rich parents take their children. The most severe punishment. To be the most carefully selected school in the whole country.

Prosecutors admit that they have received nearly $ 3.5 million in bribes over a decade to designate a child with a deep-pocketed parent as a recruit, even though they are not Georgetown's caliber. I was looking for a four year delay for the 55-year-old Ernst. player.

In a letter to the judge, Ernst apologized and promised to spend the rest of his life atonement.

"There is absolutely no excuse for my tort. I got sick because of self-loathing, but I felt a victim and myself to rationalize my actions for years. I justified my actions with a list of complaints and a lot of lies that I told him, "Ernst wrote. "In retrospect, I lacked the honesty and humility to do the right thing and ask for help," he said.

In a letter, Ernst grew up on Rhode Island with his demanding, physically abusive father, the late Rhode Island tennis legend Dick Ernst. I explained that I grew up together. Tyrant than dad. "Ernst's mother told The Boston Globe, she told her husband that she was never abusive.

Ernst got a coaching job at Northwestern University and the University of Pennsylvania after playing hockey and tennis at Brown University in Providence. He was offered the job of head of male and female tennis coaches in Georgetown in 2006 and was introduced by his friend two years later to admissions consultant Rick Singer, the mastermind of the bribery scheme, Ernst told the judge. Told.

According to the prosecutor, Ernst regularly earns at least two, often up to five, of unqualified students in exchange for bribes, out of the six spots he earns each year to recruit tennis players. Gave one. Over the years, he helped about 20 students fraudulently enter school, Assistant United States Attorney Kristen Kearney told the judge.

And unlike some of the other coaches charged in receiving bribes in the form of money for their sports program, Ernst is for himself. I put almost all the money in my pocket, the prosecutor said. According to Kearney, he used bribes to pay for his daughters' expensive private school tuition and bought a house in Cape Cod.

The defense lawyer asked the judge to rule for about a year, and in court documents, Ernst, like the tragic Greek mythological figure Ikaros, said, "Too close to the sun, the wings are waxed. I forgot that it was done. "

Surrounded by a wealthy and prestigious family in Georgetown, Ernst told himself that he did not take the wax and hurt anyone or the team. His lawyer writes.

Ernst has been trying to turn his life around since his arrest in 2019, working part-time as a tennis instructor, hockey referee, and car rental cleaner, Ernst's lawyer said.

"Gordy has fallen from the White House to tabloids. It's been a fall from grace for much longer than the courts would see in a normal case," his lawyer said. I am writing.

Ernst left Georgetown in 2018 after an internal investigation into what the school explained about the "irregularity of exercise qualifications" of recruiting students and violated admission rules. I concluded that.

He was later hired by the University of Rhode Island, claiming he was unaware of any violations of admission rules. He resigned from the school shortly after his arrest.

Ernst is one of 54 people convicted of the Operation Varsity Blues case, which exploded in the headline in March 2019.

The last defendant involved in the investigation to go to trial was acquitted by a jury in all respects last month. Another defendant was amnesty by former President Donald Trump, and a third defendant won a transaction that would lead to the dismissal of his proceedings.

Until Friday, the most severe punishment was a former staple convicted by a jury for paying $ 220,000 to have his son designated by the University of Southern California. I was 15 months in prison for John Wilson, an executive at the company. An additional $ 1 million to recruit California water polo and buy a twin daughter's way to Harvard and Stanford University. Wilson claims that he is innocent and remains free while he sues his proceedings.

Only a handful of defendants will be sentenced.

This includes the scheme mastermind singer, who was found guilty on numerous charges in 2019. The singer secretly began working with investigators before the case was announced, helping the government build a large prosecution. He will be sentenced to prison in September.

——–