A former Harvard fencing coach was acquitted Wednesday of charges that he accepted more than $1.5 million in bribes in exchange for designating a wealthy businessman's two sons as recruits to help secure their admission to the elite university.
While the allegations were similar, the Brand case was separate from the so-called “Operation Varsity Blues” prosecutions, which uncovered a scheme led by a corrupt admissions consultant to get kids into elite schools with rigged test scores and bogus athletic credentials.
Defense attorneys said the Zhao boys were exceptional students and athletes — both ranked in the top 20 nationally as fencers in high school — who didn’t need any help getting into Harvard and excelled when they got there. “This case and all of the college admissions prosecutions have led to significant reforms at colleges and universities across the country aimed at curtailing the ability of those with means and access to flagrantly ignore the rules that apply to everyone else," Rollins said in an emailed statement.
Prosecutors alleged that Brand began taking bribes from Zhao amid personal money struggles. In exchange, prosecutors said that Brand agreed to recruit Zhao’s sons to the fencing team to give them a leg up in the cut-throat admissions process.
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