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Bribery, greed: All for a little bit of Ivy League

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by CD Boogie, Mar 12, 2019.

  1. CD Boogie

    CD Boogie Well-Known Member

    What on earth are you talking about? It's not criminal? Singer, the mastermind, used money from these families to bribe college officials, amongst other things. Bribery is not a crime? Since when?
     
  2. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Within days of this story breaking, there was at least one multimillion dollar class-action lawsuit filed against the colleges mentioned in the case. Anyone who paid an admission application fee to any of those universities and was rejected can be a party to the suit.

    The two Stanford students who filed it, claim that their Stanford degree is worth less, because prospective employers will now question whether their parents bought their way in.

    I didn't track other cases like that, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are others.

    But I defer to you, because you are the most realistic person around.
     
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2019
  3. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I'm not a criminal attorney. So I may be wrong about this. But bribery in criminal law applies to trying to buy off a public official.

    Singer didn't plead to "bribery." He pled to money laundering, conspiracy to defraud and obstruction of justice, for trying to tip off the parents about the probe.
     
  4. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    This does not help at all the more qualified people who were denied spots in these schools.

    Laughlin and others are charged with federal program bribery.

    It sounds like you just don't like the charges thrown against them.

    Again, if this is all bogus, Latham and Watkins should be able to get this thrown out, right?

    Oh, and fuck Lori Laughlin and her faildaughters.
     
  5. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

  6. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    "You will never be able to truly calculate the harm done when people learn that it's a rigged game," said attorney Patrick Cotter, a former federal prosecutor who is not involved in the case. "That's a terrible crime on society. We'll never know how many kids gave up trying to get into good schools saying to themselves: 'I'm not going to make the effort because some rich kid is just going to buy his way in ahead of me. So why bother?' "

    "You know if it was put up to a vote, the public would probably send all these people to jail for 20 years," Cotter added.


     
  7. CD Boogie

    CD Boogie Well-Known Member

    We should send one of them to the chair. As a warning to others.
     
  8. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    Tough but fair
     
  9. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I am sure they can come up with 100 other charges to try to put the screws to them.

    As I said, if a prosecutor really wants to create a criminal, they will go all out trying to find a way.

    They are going after the coaches on conspiracy and racketeering charges that were meant for drug cartels, and they hit the parents with mail fraud and wire fraud charges that were maleable enough to create an indictment.

    The ones who didn't plead are now getting hit with another wave of charges to try to coerce them into pleading it out.

    They should have just taken the first plea, because these prosecutors seem determined.

    It still doesn't change the fact that this was a civil fraud.
     
  10. justgladtobehere

    justgladtobehere Well-Known Member

    That statute is so broad it is absurd. It is clearly meant to criminalize bribing government officials, but it sweeps up any organization (public or private) that receives money $10K from the government even if the bribe is unrelated to the government funds received by the organization or even unrelated to the purpose for which the organization received the money.
     
  11. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Plus anyone who has ever made a donation to a university or an athletic department could be charged this way. Of course none ever have been before the prosecutor in this case decided to turn up the heat and find a law to use in that distorted way.
     
  12. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    Well, you guys have a head start on a great appeal. I'm sure it will go swimmingly.
     
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