Parents, feds accuse each other of 'judge shopping' in college admissions case
BOSTON — Attorneys for a dozen parents in the nation's largest-ever college admissions scandal and federal prosecutors are accusing each other of trying to circumvent the court's rules in a fight over whether their cases should be taken up together by the same judge.
Sharply worded letters this week came amid a round of new money laundering charges brought against 16 parents for their alleged roles in using bribes to get their children into elite colleges and universities.
Prosecutors added the defendants to a superseding indictment that initially targeted only David Sidoo, a Vancouver businessman who is among the 33 parents accused in the cheating scheme.
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In a Tuesday letter sent to the chief judge of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, 26 attorneys representing the 12 parents accused prosecutors of seeking to evade the court process that assigns criminal cases randomly to judges.
The Sidoo case in March had already been assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton, who has a reputation for issuing stronger sentences than his peers. The parents' attorneys have accused federal prosecutors of "judge shopping" by adding their clients to his case.
"None of our clients has any connection to Mr. Sidoo," their letter, addressed to federal Judge Patti Saris, reads. "None of our clients has ever met, spoken with, or done business with Mr. Sidoo. We do not believe that any of our clients had even heard of Mr. Sidoo until a few weeks ago.
"Simply put, the prosecutors' plan to join our clients into the indictment against Mr. Sidoo is a clear form of judge shopping."
Although actress Lori Loughlin is among the 16 parents who face the new charge, her attorneys are not among the letter's co-authors. Nor is actress Felecity Huffman, who this week was among 13 parents who pleaded guilty to their charges.
The defense counsels' letter goes on to say, "To be sure, we deeply respect Judge Gorton."
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But the attorneys say these "positive experiences" with Gorton are irrelevant. They argue assigning all parents to a single judge is contrary to a court rule that's supposed to ensure a division of cases among federal judges.
"The prosecutors' plan, if permitted, would do severe and lasting damage to the district's random assignment system," they wrote, adding that if such "procedural manipulations" are allowed then it would hurt future defendants who hope to be treated fairly.
The attorneys have asked Judge Saris, the district's chief judge, to take action to ensure the indictments against their clients are randomly assigned.
But their request drew a strong objection from U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling, who is leading the college admissions case in Boston federal court.
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In a letter of his own to the chief judge in response, Lelling said the defense counsels' position "has nothing to do with the integrity of the judicial assignment process" but was instead formed because they don't want Gorton to preside over their cases.
"What counsel fail to say – but of course mean – is that they want a different judge because they perceive Judge Gorton as imposing longer sentences in criminal cases than other judges in his district; if this matter had been drawn to a judge viewed as more favorable to the defense, counsel would not have sent the letter," Lelling wrote.
He called the letter by the defendants "procedurally inappropriate, disingenuous" and a "Hail Mary by people who know better and who appear to have leaked the letter to the press right after sending it to you."
The prosecution has approached the sweeping case as a conspiracy led by Rick Singer, who allegedly operated a sham nonprofit college counseling organization and took bribes from parents to get their children into top universities and colleges. Prosecutors have named participating parents, coaches who Singer paid and others as co-conspirators.
The college admissions case picks up in federal court in Boston Friday with a plea to information hearing from defendant Mark Riddell, a private school counselor in Florida who is accused of taking bribes in exchange for taking ACT and SAT tests of students.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Parents, feds accuse each other of 'judge shopping' in college admissions case
