A youth football coach in Texas was sentenced last week for his part in paying off university coaches and a test proctor in a cash-for-admissions scheme.
Martin Fox was sentenced to three months in prison and three months of home detention. He was also ordered to pay a $95,000 fine, complete 250 hours of community service and remain on supervised release for 15 months after his prison term.
Fox pleaded guilty last November to racketeering conspiracy. He admitted to playing the middleman between William Singer, a college consultant at the heart of the scheme, and numerous university coaches.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Fox in 2014 offered Michael Center, then tennis coach at University of Texas-Austin, $80,000 to $100,000 to recruit a child of one of Singer’s clients, despite the face he didn’t play tennis competitively. The Times identified the client as Chris Schaepe, a well-known venture capitalist.
Schepe transferred more than $500,000 in stock to a foundation overseen by Singer, who then paid Fox and Center $100,000 each. Schaepe, who was fired from his firm has not yet been charged with a crime, maintaining that he knew nothing of the illegal deal brokered between Singer, Fox and Center.
Singer has since pleaded guilty to multiple offenses and is awaiting sentencing, while Center completed a six-month prison sentence in October.
Fox and Singer also pulled off a similar recruiting scam at the University of San Diego.
