Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters), The chief executive of a distribution company for liquor was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment on Thursday. She paid $575,000 to rig her child’s college entrance exam to get him admitted to Southern California University as a fake recruit.

Marci Palatella (66) was ordered by U.S. district Judge Nathaniel Gorton of Boston to be placed in home confinement for six more months after she admitted that she had been involved in the massive fraud scheme that led to the U.S. college admissions scandal.

In August, she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest mail fraud. Gordon also required the Hillsborough resident from California to pay a $250,000 penalty and 500 hours of community work.

Jack DiCanio her lawyer did not reply to my request for comment.

Fifty-seven people have been charged in the investigation, which centers on a scheme in which parents conspired with California college admissions consultant William “Rick” Singer to secure their children’s college admissions fraudulently.

Singer was convicted in 2019 of facilitating cheating on college entrance exams and using bribery for fake recruits.

51 individuals pleaded guilty to the charges, which included Felicity Huffman (actor) and Lori Loughlin (actor). The scandal’s first trial saw two parents convicted of the crime in October.

According to the prosecution, Palatella paid $75,000 in 2017, to Singer to help her arrange for an associate proctor her son’s SAT exam. Singer also helped correct Singer’s answers in secret at a California test center.

Singer also offered to cover $500,000 for her son’s USC admission as a fake football recruit.

A little over $100,000 of this money went to Donna Heinel from USC. She admitted to it in November that she had facilitated Singer’s admission of children for payment from Singer clients to USC accounts, from which she professional benefited.