Top Comments: the College Admission scandal's other participants edition

There are more than two TV figures involved in this scandal, after the jump …

But first: Top Comments appears nightly, as a round-up of the best comments on Daily Kos. Surely ... you come across comments daily that are perceptive, apropos and .. well, perhaps even humorous. But they are more meaningful if they're well-known ... which is where you come in (especially in diaries/stories receiving little attention).

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In the six months since the announcement of the FBI investigation entitled Operation Varsity Blues— the college admissions scandal — there have been a total of fifty-one people indicted for their roles. And yet, public focus has been on two women alone. My guess is that because they are TV stars, it was irresistible (and quite easy) for the media to probe … with their entire lives and marriages under the microscope (plus that of their offspring).

There will be no defense of them here: one has already pled guilty, the other will have her day-in-court soon. My concern is that this focus plays into the hands of the right-wing press, who can palm-this-off as a “Hollywood”  scandal. And so I will highlight a few other, male defendants — from a wide angle of alleged criminal behavior — including its mastermind.

Probably only one or two Americans in one hundred(!) can name William “Rick” Singer— the founder and CEO of the California company The Key: a “Private Life Coaching and College Counseling Company,” according to its website. The Key catered to wealthy families trying to get their children into college (and he did have many clients who did not commit any type of fraud, it should be duly noted). Singer pled guilty and faces up to sixty-five years in prison when sentenced (though with his cooperation, it will probably be less).

 “Rick” Singer: mastermind

Someone that Singer paid to fraudulently take admission tests (impersonating the clients' children) and who also paid officials at the testing agencies to deliberately mis-administer the tests was Mark Riddell— who was director of college entrance exams at a Florida prep school (with both academic and athletic emphases). He was fired from his post and faces up to twenty years for his involvement but (as above) his guilty plea/subsequent cooperation should see less time spent in jail.

   Mark Riddell: paid bribes

Igor Dvorskiy was director of the West Hollywood College Preparatory School (WHCPS) and has been charged with accepting bribes of $10k per student to fake their SAT or ACT tests to help them gain admission to prestigious colleges and universities. He has pled not guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering.

Igor Dvorskiy: accept bribes

John Vandemoer is but one example of the sports angle of this investigation. He was fired as the sailing team coach at Stanford University for his role in to pretending that two prospective students were competitive sailors in exchange for $270k in contributions to the Stanford sailing program. (Neither student ended up attending Stanford). He pled guilty and was fined $10k plus sentenced to two years of supervised release (the first six months to be served in home detention). He benefited in part (per the judge) by not personally pocketing any of the bribes.

 J. Vandemoer: sports fraud

Finally, business executive Devin Sloane was an example of the other thirty-odd parents charged (and the most recent to be sentenced, this week). He paid a $250k bribe to get his son into the University of Southern California by faking documents and even staged photos in the family's swimming pool to make his son look like a water polo star (even though he never played the sport). He was sentenced to four months, 500 hours of community service and a fine of $95k.

Devin Sloane: many parents

Those are but a few of the fifty-one indicted individuals …… not just two.

Let’s close with a song from the original New Riders of the Purple Sage album …. Dirty Business speaks not only to tonight’s topic … but the crooked White House.

x xYouTube Video

As always, this is an Open Thread — feel free to chime-in on politics.

Now, on to Top Comments:

Highlighted by Petsounds:

In the diary by Dartagnan about the discomfort the GOP is having over the looming impeachment inquiry— please see dhmlt 66 with a great graphic.

Highlighted by PKam904:

In the front-page story about the sudden switch by many GOP senators to silence — I like this comment written by nonnie9999. 

And from Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ........

In the diary by Aldous J Pennyfarthing about the Rudy meltdown—  I like this comment by Sammy912.

TOP PHOTOS September 25th, 2019 Next - enjoy jotter's wonderful *PictureQuilt™* below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment that features that photo. (NOTE: Any missing images in the Quilt were removed because (a) they were from an unapproved source that somehow snuck through in the comments, or (b) it was an image from the DailyKos Image Library which didn't have permissions set to allow others to use it.)

And lastly: yesterday's Top Mojo - mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion:

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