Hillsborough Lady Pleading Responsible For Paying $500Okay To Get Son Into USC – CBS San Francisco
BOSTON (CBS / AP) – A woman from the Peninsula who is also the chief executive officer of a California liquor distribution company pleaded guilty less than a month ahead of the scheduled trial, according to court records Tuesday.
Marci Palatella will be the 33rd parent to admit prosecution in the case that uncovered a system where wealthy parents paid large amounts of money to put their children in top schools across the country.
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Her plea deal with prosecutors requires her to sit behind bars for six weeks and pay a fine of $ 250,000. She also agreed to do 500 hours of community service and two years of supervised release, with the first six months in domestic custody, under the plea deal that must be accepted by a judge.
Palatella and two other parents were due to stand before the jury next month in the first trial since the so-called “Operation Varsity Blues” in March 2019.
The Hillsborough woman will admit she paid $ 500,000 to bring her son to the University of Southern California as a football recruit even though he wouldn’t actually play on the team, prosecutors said.
Marci Palatella, founder of the Preservation Distillery, Center, arrives in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, USA on Friday, March 29, 2019. (Scott Eisen / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
On Tuesday, emails were sent to her lawyers asking for comments.
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She will plead guilty to conspiracy charges to commit honest postal fraud. Prosecutors have agreed to dismiss the other charge she faced – conspiracy to commit federal bribery – in exchange for her admission of guilt.
Palatella was among 50 parents, sports coaches and others charged in 2019 in the case that implicated elite universities across the country.
Only a handful of parents are still fighting the allegations. More than 30 other parents have pleaded guilty, including TV actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, and Loughlin’s fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli.
The two parents on trial next month – Gamal Abdelaziz and John Wilson – are also charged with paying bribes to bring their children to the University of Southern California as bogus athletic recruits.
The selection of the jury is to begin on September 8th.
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© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
