Agoura Hills Dad Pleads Guilty In College Admissions Scandal

AGOURA HILLS, CA — An Agoura Hills executive pleaded guilty in Boston federal court Tuesday to charges that he paid $400,000 in bribes to get his son into Georgetown University. Stephen Semprevivo, who was an executive at Agoura Hills-based Cydcor before getting fired this week, was the third parent to plead guilty in the expansive college admissions bribery scheme, KTLA reported.

According to authorities, Semprevivo gave $400,000 to an admissions consultant who paid off then-Georgetown tennis coach Gordon Ernst for pretending Semprevivo’s son was a tennis recruit, the news station said.

Dozens of people were indicted by federal prosecutors, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, college coaches and CEOS, in the alleged cheating scandal.

When it was exposed in March, the scandal sent shockwaves across the nation, tarnishing the reputations of elite schools as well as the wealthy parents apparently willing to cheat to get their children into them. Several coaches at local universities were arrested in connection with the alleged $25 million scheme. Parents willing to fork out bribes were able to get their children into schools such as USC, UCLA, Yale, Stanford and Georgetown as fake athletic recruits or by cheating on their entrance exams. In many cases, the students involved were unaware of their parents' scheming.

Federal prosecutors said that in some cases, the ruse over fake athletic recruiting included the use of staged or faked photos of the students posing with athletic equipment or appearing to compete in sports they did not actually play.

Semprevivo faces as much as 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater for the charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

According to the terms of the plea agreement, the government will recommend a sentence of 18 months in prison, one year of supervised release, and a fine of $95,000, according to the U.S. Attoney's office.

Semprevivo's sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 11.

Semprevivo was an executive at Cydcor, based in Agoura Hills, which provides companies with outsourced sales teams, KTLA reported.

Related:

• Another Elite Parent Pleads Guilty In College Admissions Scandal
• More Rich Families Await Charges In College Admissions Scandal

Patch staffers Jenna Fisher and Paige Austin contributed to this post