Former tennis club president sentenced to 3 months in college admission cheating scheme

BOSTON – The former president of a private tennis club in Texas was sentenced to three months in prison on Friday, followed by three months of house arrest for his role in the massive college admissions corruption program.

Martin Fox apologized for his actions during an appearance before a Boston judge by video conference due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’m ashamed of what I did. My parents raised me better than that,” Fox said.

The Houston man pleaded guilty last year to a racketeering conspiracy charge as part of a deal with prosecutors.

Prosecutors had requested a six-month sentence behind bars. Fox’s attorneys have urged the judge for leniency, saying he suffers from a health problem and is at risk behind bars because of the virus.

Fox acted as an intermediary between the accused admissions consultant at the center of the program, Rick Singer, and coaches and a test administrator to facilitate cheating on children’s college entrance exams or help children to entering school as a recruited athlete, prosecutors said.

Authorities said he arranged bribes to bring a student to the University of Texas as a tennis rookie, even though the student did not play competitively. Fox also brokered a deal to bring a college student into the University of San Diego as a basketball rookie, prosecutors said.

He personally took at least $ 245,000 as part of the scheme and facilitated thousands of dollars in bribes, prosecutors said.

He is one of more than three dozen people who have pleaded guilty to the case involving prominent parents and athletic coaches at elite universities across the country. Singer has also pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the government investigation into what authorities have dubbed Operation Varsity Blues, a series of indictments that rocked the worlds of higher education, sports and entertainment. .

At the end of last month, “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin said she was jailed to begin serving his two-month sentence for paying $ 500,000 to get his two daughters into the University of California in South as rookies to the crew, although neither of the girls is a rower. Loughlin’s husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, is due to report to jail next week. He was sentenced to five months in prison.