The sentence of the coach, Gordon Ernst, 54, of Chevy Chase, Md., and Falmouth, Mass., to 30 months represented the harshest sentence handed down so far in the federal investigation known as Operation Varsity Blues, which focused on the payment bribes from wealthy parents to get their children into elite colleges. “Mr. Ernst was one of the most prolific participants in defrauding the college admissions system,” Rachel S. Rollins, the U.S. attorney, said in a statement. “He pocketed almost $3.5 million in bribes directly of and sold nearly two dozen slot machines in Georgetown to the highest bidder.” Mr. Ernst pleaded guilty last fall to charges including conspiring to bribe federal programs and filing a false tax return, according to court documents. “Mr. Ernst was the mastermind behind this corruption of the college admissions process, and the court’s sentence speaks volumes for the seriousness of his conduct,” Ms. Rollins said in the statement. Lawyers for Mr. Ernst could not be reached for comment. The disgraced former tennis coach was first arrested in March 2019, along with more than four dozen other coaches, parents and testing center officials. Mr. Ernst pleaded guilty to taking bribes to recruit at least 12 students for Georgetown’s tennis team between 2012 and 2018. Some of those students did not play tennis competitively, according to court documents. More than 50 people have been charged in the scandal. Mr. Ernst also failed to report all of the proceeds from those bribe payments on his federal income tax returns, according to a Justice Department statement. His conviction is one of the latest installments in the Varsity Blues scandal, which has sparked renewed concerns about a college admissions system that often favors wealthy applicants. Mr. Ernst worked with the person prosecutors said was the head of the college admissions program, William Singer, who went by Rick, a private college consultant who offered wealthy families a “window door” to top schools. universities in the country, often using recruiting athletes. like Mr. Ernst obscuring a college applicant’s qualifications. Mr. Singer, who began cooperating with authorities in 2018, is one of four remaining defendants in the Varsity Blues case who have yet to be sentenced. His hearing is scheduled for September.
