BOSTON – The chief executive officer of a California liquor distribution company has agreed to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge in connection with securing her son’s fraudulent admission to the University of Southern California (USC) as a purported athletic recruit.
Marci Palatella, 66, of Hillsborough, Calif., will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud. According to the terms of the plea agreement, the parties have agreed to a sentence of six weeks in prison, a $250,000 fine, two years of supervised release, with a condition of home confinement for the first six months of supervised release, and 500 hours of community service.
As set forth in the charging document, Palatella agreed with William “Rick” Singer and others to pay $500,000 to facilitate her son’s admission to USC as a football recruit, even though he was not actually being recruited and would not play on the USC football team.
Palatella will be the 33rd parent to plead guilty in the case.
