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From: leroysoetoro@kaga.com

The former head of a top US investment firm has been sentenced to nine
months in prison for his role in the US universities admissions scandal.

Retired Pacific Investment Management Company (Pimco) chief Douglas Hodge
paid nearly $1m in bribes to get four of his children into top US
colleges.

Hodge has received the longest sentence of the high-profile parents
convicted so far.

Prosecutors called him one of the "most culpable" of the 35 parents
charged.

In October, Hodge pleaded guilty to money-laundering and fraud.

He paid $850,000 (£660,000) in bribes over a decade to have four of his
seven children win places at Georgetown University in Washington DC and
the University of Southern California as fake athletic recruits.

Prosecutors say Hodge was also attempting to bribe his way into a seat for
a fifth child at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. They had
asked for Hodge to serve two years in prison.

At the sentencing in Boston, Massachusetts, on Friday, Judge Nathaniel
Gorton said: "There is no term in the English language that describes your conduct as well as the Yiddish term 'chutzpah.'"

The judge said he would have given a prison term of a year, as Hodge had participated in the scam repeatedly and for the longest time, but took
into consideration Hodge's charity work.

Hodge, who retired from his position as Pimco's chief executive in 2016
before the scandal broke, has expressed remorse for his actions.

His defence team had argued the ex-CEO deserves a reduced sentence in
light of his history of philanthropy.

They said he has given more than $30m to causes benefitting children
around the world. But prosecutor Justin O'Connell dubbed this the "height
of hypocrisy".

A tearful Hodge said in a prepared apology following the sentencing that
"ego" or "status" did not drive his decision.

"Rather, I was driven by my own transformative educational experiences and
my deep parental love."

The US college admissions scandal has seen dozens of defendants indicted
for allegedly cheating and bribing to get their children into elite universities, like Yale and Stanford.

The parents - many of whom are celebrities or wealthy business executives
- allegedly paid a firm as much as $6.5m (£4.9m) to cheat on students'
college entrance exams or bribe top coaches to offer fake athletic scholarships.

The colleges have not been accused of any wrongdoing and are investigating
the matter internally.

Fifteen parents are still contesting the allegations, and their trials are expected to take place later this year.

US actress Lori Loughlin, of the sitcom Full House is among the 50 total individuals - including coaches and other associates - is charged in the
case.

So is Michelle Janavs, the heiress to the Hot Pockets (a microwavable
snack) fortune.

Ms Loughlin and her husband, designer Mossimo Giannuli, allegedly paid
$500,000 in bribes to have their two daughters admitted to the University
of Southern California as fake rowing-team recruits. She has pleaded not
guilty to the charges.

Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman was sentenced to 14 days in
prison and a $30,000 fine last October for paying $15,000 to participate
in an exam cheating scam.

The ringleader, William "Rick" Singer, 58, is co-operating with the authorities. Authorities say the scam earned him $25m between 2011-18
through his firm Edge College & Career Network.

Children of wealthy Americans often win places at elite universities after their parents make generous donations, an entirely legal practice.



--
No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.

Donald J. Trump, 304 electoral votes to 227, defeated compulsive liar in
denial Hillary Rodham Clinton on December 19th, 2016. The clown car
parade of the democrat party ran out of gas and got run over by a Trump
truck.

Congratulations President Trump. Thank you for cleaning up the disaster
of the Obama presidency.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump has boosted the economy, reduced illegal immigration,
appointed dozens of judges and created jobs.

Sore loser and NAMBLA supporter Nancy Pelosi just pulled the "Obamacare switcheroo" on "trumped up" impeachment charges.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)