Former USC official to plead guilty in college admission scandal
BOSTON, MA - MARCH 25: Donna Heinel, former senior associate athletic director at the University of Southern California, leaves following her arraignment at Boston Federal Court on March 25, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty
BOSTON - A former USC senior associate athletic director is expected to plead guilty Friday to her role in the fraud and bribery scheme in which the children of wealthy parents gained admission to some of the country's top universities as fake sports recruits.
Donna Heinel has agreed to plead guilty in Boston federal court to "honest services" wire fraud after arranging for more than two dozen students to get into the college, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts.
She entered into a plea deal with federal prosecutors this week, agreeing to accept a prison sentence of up to 46 months.
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Prosecutors wrote in court papers that Heinel "abused a position of trust in a manner that significantly facilitated the commission of the offense."
Heinel is accused of working with the scheme's organizer, William "Rick" Singer to coordinate students' admissions to USC as fake athletic recruits over a four-year period beginning in 2014.
According to the complaint filed in March 2019, Heinel presented applicants to admissions committees in exchange for payments from Singer totaling more than $1.3 million.
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Before she entered into the plea deal, she was heading to trial on a series of federal charges including conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and honest services mail and wire fraud. She faced up to 60 years behind bars if convicted on all counts, prosecutors noted.
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Almost three dozen parents have pleaded guilty in the case, including actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin and Loughlin's fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli. Parents have so far received punishments ranging from probation to nine months in prison.
Singer, a Newport Beach consultant at the center of the scheme, pleaded guilty in March 2019 to charges of racketeering, money laundering, fraud and obstruction and is awaiting sentencing.
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Heinel admitted to helping funnel cash to Singer and making $20,000 a month in a phony consulting deal with him, according to federal prosecutors.
In 2008, while working at the university, Heinel established a side business, Clear the Clearinghouse, wherein she advised high school administrators on NCAA guidelines for athletes, a service that is usually available for free. Her annual fee for the service was reportedly up to $700.
Heinel, who was let go by USC on the day she was indicted, listed her Long Beach home for just under $2 million in the wake of the scandal.
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