VARSITY BLUES

California Father Gets Six Months in Prison in College Admissions Scandal

He is the 13th parent to be sentenced in part of the Varsity Blues investigation.

A former California real estate executive has been sentenced to six months in prison for paying $450,000 to get his children into the University of Southern California as fake soccer and basketball recruits. Toby MacFarlane, 56, was sentenced Wednesday in Boston’s federal court after he pleaded guilty in June to fraud conspiracy. MacFarlane received the longest sentence so far out of the 12 other parents that have been sentenced in the college admissions scandal that came to light in March. U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton also imposed a $150,000 fine and ordered MacFarlane to perform 200 hours of community service. MacFarlane paid $200,000 to admissions consultant William “Rick” Singer to get his daughter admitted to USC as a soccer recruit in 2014, and later paid another $250,000 to get his son into USC as a basketball recruit in 2017, investigators said.