Peninsula couple Bruce and Davina Isackson sentenced in college admissions scam

A couple who pleaded guilty to charges for securing their daughters’ admission to college by paying to cheat on entrance exams and creating false athlete profiles in a national scandal was sentenced in Boston federal court on Tuesday.

Bruce Isackson, 65,and Davina Isackson, 58, of Hillsborough were each sentenced to time served in federal prison (approximately one day), one year of probation and 250 hours of community service. Bruce Isackson also was ordered to pay a $7,500 fine, and Davina Isackson was ordered to pay $1,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

The Isacksons are the last of a group of Bay Area parents and coaches to be sentenced in the scandal, which encompassed 50 people, including coaches, other parents and test administrators nationwide.

The Isacksons pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud in May 2019. Bruce Isackson also pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS. The Isacksons’ sentencing was postponed while they continued to cooperate with the government’s investigation.

The Isacksons conspired with college admissions consultant William “Rick” Singer, the admitted ringleader behind the nationwide admissions scandal, and others, including university athletic coaches and SAT administrators, in September 2015 to secure their daughters’ admission to elite colleges and universities. They paid Singer $600,000 to facilitate cheating on their younger daughter’s college entrance exam and obtaining an inflated test score.

Singer also helped facilitate both daughters’ college admissions as purported athletic recruits. He created a false profile of a recruited soccer player for their older daughter, which was submitted to Laura Janke, a former University of Southern California assistant coach, according to court documents. Five months later, she moved the application to the regular admissions process due to a “clerical error.”

Former USC women’s head soccer coach Ali Khosroshahin sent the application to the head women’s soccer coach at the University of California, Los Angeles. The girl received provisional admission for fall 2016.

The couple also worked with Singer in 2017 to create a false ACT score and fake rowing recruit profile for their younger daughter’s application to USC. She received conditional admission that October but was told to keep the news under wraps until March 2018, according to court documents.

They also planned with Singer to fake their third child’s college entrance exam scores but a court-ordered wiretap intercepted a phone call.

Other residents who were sentenced to punishments ranging from fines with no jail time to a few months in prison with hefty fines include include former Stanford University sailing coach John Vandemoer; Menlo Park residents Marjorie Klapper and Peter Jan Sartorio; Atherton residents Manuel Henriquez and Elizabeth Henriquez; Hillsborough resident Marci Palatella; former TPG Capital senior executive William McGlashan Jr., previously of Palo Alto; Napa vintner Agustin Huneeus Jr.; and Dr. Gregory and Amy Colburn of Palo Alto.