Former Stanford sailing coach gets one day in prison in college cheating scandal
John Vandermoer is the first person to be sentenced in the sprawling cheating scandal.
Article via NBCNews
BOSTON — Stanford University’s former sailing coach avoided significant prison time and was sentenced Wednesday to just one day behind bars for his role in a massive college admissions scandal.
John Vandemoer was the first person to be sentenced in the sweeping corruption scandal that exposed the sophisticated network of college admissions ringleader William Rick Singer, who helped children of well-heeled clients cheat their way into elite universities.
U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel sided with defense lawyers who said their client should not get more than the one day, which the judge dismissed as time served. The government had asked the judge to sentence Vandemoer to 13 months in prison.
Before Wednesday, Vandemoer had already pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy for accepting $610,000 in bribes that all went into the school’s sailing program. The money did not directly line Vandemoer’s pockets, the judge and lawyers on both sides agreed.
“From what I know about the other cases, there is an agreement that Vandemoer is probably the least culpable of all the defendants in all of these cases,” Zobel said. “All the money he got went directly to the sailing program.”
In court on Wednesday, Vandemoer’s voice choked with emotion as he apologized for his actions.
“I want to be seen as someone who takes responsibility for mistakes,” he said. “I want to tell you how I intend to live from this point forward. I will never again lose sight of my values.”
Outside court, Vandemoer said he regrets how he “brought a cloud” over Stanford.
“Mistakes are never felt by just yourself, this mistake impacted the people I love and admire in my life,” he said.
“Stanford is a place that I love … I have brought a cloud over Stanford, the amazing students, athletes, coaches and alumni. I have let you down and that devastates me. I have so much respect for all of you and never wanted to let you down, but I did. I will carry this with me for the rest of my life.”
Singer was among several college sports coaches caught up in the sweeping federal probe dubbed, “Operation Varsity Blues.” The scandal netted Oscar-nominated actress Felicity Huffman and “Full House” star Lori Loughlin.
Vandemoer received two separate payments of $500,000 and $110,000 and was promised a third of $160,000 between fall 2016 and October 2018 on behalf of the Stanford sailing program to falsely represent that three clients of Singer’s were elite sailors — and thus deserving of special admission to the private school, according to court documents.
Recruited athletes generally receive much more favorable consideration, even at elite campuses like Stanford.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen pleaded with Judge Zobel to send Vandemoer to prison and send a message about the case.
“The sentence that you impose will set the tone moving forward,” Rosen said.
The prosecutor added: “This case goes far beyond John Vandemoer. The damage on Stanford goes much further. The actions undermine the confidence in the college admissions process.”
The defense asked for leniency, arguing that the money Vandemoer received didn’t go into his pocket, but instead went to a fund that supported Stanford’s sailing program.
“It cannot be overstated: all parties agree that Mr. Vandemoer did not personally profit from the scheme,” defense lawyer Robert Fisher wrote in his sentencing memo to the court. “Mr. Singer sent Mr. Vandemoer money, and he consistently turned that money over to Stanford.”
And in court on Wednesday, Fisher reiterated that his client wasn’t motivated by personal monetary gain.
“My client did not benefit from these actions,” Fisher told the judge. “This is a man whose heart was in the right place.”
Zobel also sentenced Vandemoer to two years of supervised release and six months of home confinement. The former coach was also fined $10,000.
“I am aware that these are serious offenses,” Zobel said. “I find it hard in this case that Vandemoer should go to jail for more than a year.”
Of the three students whose parents tried to bribe their way into Stanford, none them actually benefited from Singer and Vandemoer’s scheme.
The first one’s fake sailing application came too late in the recruiting season and “the student was later admitted to Stanford through the regular application process,” according to prosecutors.
The next two opted to go to Brown University and Vanderbilt University, despite Vandemoer’s help.
Vandemoer was fired by Stanford on March 12, hours after federal prosecutors unsealed indictments.
“Although Mr. Vandemoer’s conduct resulted in donations to the Stanford sailing team, Stanford views those funds as tainted,” according to a victim impact statement written to Judge Zobel by Stanford’s general counsel, Debra Zumwalt. “Stanford takes no position regarding any specific sentence that this Court may impose.”
The scandal gained international headlines when Loughlin and Huffman were indicted.
Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, have pleaded not guilty to charges that they paid $500,000 to help their two daughters get into the University of Southern California.
The private Los Angeles school has vowed to take a closer look at its admissions policies in the scandal’s wake.
Huffman has already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Prosecutors said the “Desperate Housewives” actress spent $15,000 to have wrong answers corrected on daughter Sofia Grace Macy’s SAT. She will be sentenced on Sept. 13.
Jada Pinkett Smith revealed her husband, Will, felt ‘abandoned’ by her efforts to gain more independence
Article via FOXNews
Actress Jada Pinkett Smith revealed that her husband, Will Smith, felt “abandoned” by her efforts to gain more independence in their marriage.
Pinkett Smith was joined by her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, as well as the couple’s therapist, Esther Perel, in the latest episode of her Facebook watch series “Red Table Talk.” In the episode, the group gets candid about mending a relationship after infidelity.
Pinkett Smith reveals that, while Will never cheated on her, there were “betrayals of the heart” that caused them to completely reassess their relationship and move forward outside the confines of traditional marriage rules.
“Specifically for me, in regards to redefining my marriage as a life partnership was the necessity of autonomy for myself and for Will, and finding the core of us that wanted to be together outside of the constraints of the traditional ideas of marriage because they weren’t working for us,” she shared.
In the midst of that self-reflection, Jada says she realized that she was living her life in service of Will’s happiness.
“Our whole life looked like his dream. I’m his energy source. That’s great, but I’ve got to create part of this life that is designed and looks like me,” she said.
However, when asked if Will took that news well, Pinkett Smith revealed that it initially caused further strain.
“He felt abandoned at first, he felt really abandoned,” she admitted. “That’s one of the reasons why I stayed in it the way I did for so long. Because I was so terrified. First of all, you never want to hurt the person that you love. You never want to create instability that way.”
“It has been one of the most excruciating processes of my life,” she continued. “I’ve wanted to personally break out of Will needing to be something for me because I felt like that was so unfair. And a lot of it had to do with my father issues. I just realized one day, ‘This man is not your father!”
The star concluded by noting that learning to trust Will to be the man that he is was the work she put in, while Will figured out a way to understand her need for independence.
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Britney Spears accuses paparazzi of editing photos to make her look heavier
Article via CNN
Britney Spears is not happy with newly released images of her vacationing in Miami.
The singer took to Instagram late Monday to accuse the paparazzi of editing photos of her in a bikini to make her appear “40 pounds bigger” than she really is. To prove she’s thinner, she posted a video of herself with this message, “So, this is the day after me on my boat ride. Do I look any different today than yesterday?” she says as she twirls while wearing a crop top. In the caption, she added, “People always say people or celebrities cheat with their images, but never do they question the papparazzi for selling your pic that they have messed with !!!! This was all done within the same 17 hours !!!!”
The photo agency that took the photos, MEGA, had this to say to Page Six. “We think Britney looks great and it’s ludicrous to suggest the photos or video were altered in any way,” a representative for the company said. “They were not. We shot thousands of photos of her over the weekend and are very happy to let her see the original files if she so wishes. It was good to see her happy and having fun and we wish her well.”
Spears’ Instagram post comes in the midst of the #FreeBritney social media movement, driven by some fans who believe she is a prisoner in her own home because of a court-ordered conservatorship that dates to 2008. Under its terms, the singer’s father, Jamie Spears, makes decisions about her day-to-day affairs and medical needs.
Some fans have alleged Spears also cannot access her social media accounts. Sources close to Spears previously have told CNN the claims are entirely false.
The star’s latest Instagram post shows her not only enjoying a sunny vacation but also taking control of the narrative.
CNN has reached out to Spears’ camp and MEGA for additional comment.
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Lee Daniels: I hate f–king being sober
Article via PageSix
Lee Daniels says that while it’s “a bore,” his sobriety is very important to him.
“I’m angsty and I’m sober, so that is really weird to be going to the Met Ball and to other social activities not intoxicated,” the “Empire” creator told New York Magazine. “I hate f–king being sober. It’s a bore. It’s a f–king snooze.”
Daniels, 59, said he initially got into drugs and alcohol because his father couldn’t cope with him being gay.
“I don’t do anything. It’s really hard, but believe me, I’ve done enough for everybody,” he shared. “I never really even liked to drink, but I drank because my father told me if he ever saw me with a man, he would kill me. And until I was 22, I had to get drunk to actually go through with the process. And then the drug scene came.”
The start of the AIDS epidemic only furthered Daniels’ addictions, as he turned to drugs and alcohol to help numb the pain of all the people he had lost.
“And then all your friends start dying of AIDS. Not one, not two, not three, I’m talking intimate friends that you’ve had sex with, you’ve had dreams with, hopes with, people that are better souls than you, gone,” he explained. “And you can’t figure out, ‘Why the f–k am I still here?’ So then it was like me on drugs and drinking, not even knowing I was an addict but just erasing all the pain.”
Still sober, “The Butler” director didn’t use when dealing with the fallout from Jussie Smollett’s allegedly staged racist and homophobic attack, though he certainly struggled in dealing with it.
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Mistrial declared on 8 counts in Winslow Jr. trial
Article via ESPN
A California jury that convicted former NFL player Kellen Winslow Jr. of raping a 58-year-old homeless woman was unable to break a deadlock on eight other counts Tuesday and a judge declared a mistrial on those charges.
The judge earlier denied a defense motion to dismiss the undecided charges involving the alleged rapes of a 54-year-old hitchhiker and an unconscious teen.
Prosecutors did not immediately say whether they would retry those charges. Winslow currently faces up to nine years in prison. Conviction on all charges could bring a life sentence.
The San Diego County Superior Court jury on Monday found Winslow guilty of an attack last year on the homeless woman in Encinitas, north of San Diego. The jury also found the 35-year-old former tight end guilty of indecent exposure and lewd conduct involving two other women, but jurors found him not guilty of one count of a lewd act.
The jury told the court Monday that it was deadlocked on the other charges, but the judge had ordered them to resume deliberations on Tuesday.
All five women testified during the nine-day trial. Winslow, who played for Cleveland, Tampa Bay, New England and the New York Jets, did not take the stand.
Defense attorneys pointed out inconsistencies in the accusers’ testimonies and argued the women invented the allegations to prey on the wealth of Winslow, who reportedly earned over $40 million during his 10 seasons in the NFL.
The five women testified that they didn’t know Winslow was famous when they met him.
Prosecutors said Winslow — the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow — felt empowered by his fame to abuse the most vulnerable. Prosecutor Dan Owens told the jury of eight men and four women that Winslow is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
The homeless woman in Encinitas testified that Winslow befriended her and attacked her next to his vehicle after inviting her for a coffee in May 2018.
The 54-year-old hitchhiker said he drove her to an Encinitas shopping center parking lot and raped her in his Hummer in March 2018.
A 57-year-old woman said he exposed himself to her while she tended to her garden in May 2018. The jury found him guilty of that charge Monday.
After news of the attacks broke, a woman came forward and said Winslow had raped her when she was a 17-year-old high school student in 2003. He was 19 at the time and had come home from college for the summer.
A 77-year-old woman who went to the same gym as Winslow in the nearby beach community of Carlsbad said he committed lewd acts in front of her, including touching himself, while Winslow was free on $2 million bail in February. The jury found him guilty of touching himself in front of the woman while she exercised, but not guilty of committing a lewd act in front of her on a separate occasion in the gym’s hot tub.
Defense attorney Marc Carlos questioned the credibility of the women’s claims, saying they had lied, misconstrued things or were unable to initially identify Winslow correctly. Defense lawyers also said the sex was consensual and that Winslow had cheated on his wife repeatedly with no-strings-attached sex.
Prosecutors said the crux of the women’s accusations didn’t change and that evidence included traces of Winslow’s DNA on one of the accuser’s pants and GPS locations placing him where the women said the assaults occurred.
Jurors on Friday sent a note to the judge indicating they were struggling to reach agreement.
“The jurors could benefit from an explanation as to what being under oath means,” the note said. “Additionally, how we should follow the law and not what we think the law means.”
The judge told jurors that being under oath means telling the whole truth and that they should follow the law how it is written.
Yung Miami Announces She’s Pregnant!
Article via HotNewHipHop
We might soon be losing both City Girls. Right now, JT is out of action as she completes her prison sentence for fraud. Yung Miami has been holding down the crew with their growing popularity but it looks like she might also need to take a break. As reported by The Shade Room, the rapper is currently expecting a baby, which she revealed in a new documentary.
Yung Miami, whose real name is Caresha Brownlee, already has one child but she’s expecting another. She admitted that she will soon be giving birth to another baby during a phone conversation in the City Girls’ documentary. She was seemingly in the middle of a private conversation with her boyfriend, mega-producer Southside, when she dropped the bomb on him. “I’m pregnant,” she said. The man on the other end of the call asks her to confirm and she starts crying, answering in the affirmative.
A good number of City Girls fans claim to have known about the pregnancy all along. A few days ago, rumours started flying around on gossip websites about Caresha’s possible pregnancy and now that we’ve heard the news directly from the source, we can finally celebrate. There is currently no timetable on when she’s due.
As we said, this muddles up the girl group’s schedule for the near future. Yung Miami has been keeping herself busy with promo and videos as she awaits JT’s return but now, she will likely need to take some time off as well.
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O.J. Simpson living in ‘no negative zone’ 25 years after deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson, Ronald Goldman
Article via USAToday
LOS ANGELES – After 25 years living under the shadow of one of the nation’s most notorious murder cases, O.J. Simpson says his life has entered a phase he calls the “no negative zone.”
In a telephone Interview, Simpson told The Associated Press he is healthy and happy living in Las Vegas. And neither he nor his children want to look back by talking about June 12, 1994 – when his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, were killed and Simpson quickly was transformed in the public mind from revered Pro Football Hall of Fame hero to murder suspect.
“We don’t need to go back and relive the worst day of our lives,” Simpson said. “The subject of the moment is the subject I will never revisit again. My family and I have moved on to what we call the ‘no negative zone.’ We focus on the positives.”
For a man who once lived for the spotlight, Simpson has been keeping a largely low profile since his release from prison in October 2017 after serving nine years for a robbery-kidnapping conviction in Las Vegas. He continues to believe his conviction and sentence for trying to steal back his own memorabilia were unfair but says, “I believe in the legal system and I honored it. I served my time.”
After his release from the prison in Lovelock, Nevada, many expected him to return to Florida where he had lived for several years. But friends in Las Vegas persuaded him to stay there despite the case that landed him in prison.
He’s glad he did.
“The town has been good to me,” Simpson said. “Everybody I meet seems to be apologizing for what happened to me here.”
His time in the city hasn’t been without controversy, however. A month after his release an outing to a steakhouse and lounge at the Cosmopolitan resort off the Las Vegas Strip ended in a dispute. Simpson was ordered off the property and prohibited from returning.
No such problems have occurred since, and Simpson is among the most sought-after figures in town for selfies with those who encounter him at restaurants or athletic events he attends occasionally.
He plays golf almost every day and said he is a member of a club of “retired guys” who compete with each other on the golf course. The knees that helped him run to football glory at the University of Southern California and with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills have been replaced and he recently had Lasik surgery on his eyes. But nearing his 72nd birthday, he is otherwise healthy.
Simpson said he remains close to his children and other relatives. His parole officer has given him permission to take short trips including to Florida where his two younger children, Justin and Sydney, have built careers in real estate.
His older daughter, Arnelle, lives with him much of the time but also commutes to Los Angeles.
“I’ve been to Florida two or three times to see the kids and my old buddies in Miami. I even managed to play a game of golf with them,” he said. “But I live in a town I’ve learned to love. Life is fine.”
He also visited relatives in Louisiana, he said, and spoke to a group of black judges and prosecutors in New Orleans.
Recently, a family wedding brought his extended family to Las Vegas including his brother, Truman; sister, Shirley; and their children and grandchildren. Simpson’s first wife, Marguerite, mother of Arnelle, also joined the group.
The glamor of his early life is just a memory.
After his football career, Simpson became a commercial pitchman, actor and football commentator. He was once a multimillionaire but he says most of his fortune was spent defending himself after he was charged with the murders.
His televised “Trial of the Century” lasted nearly a year and became a national obsession. He was acquitted by a jury in 1995 and has continued to declare his innocence. The murder case is officially listed as unsolved.
The families of the victims subsequently filed a civil suit against him, and in 1997 a civil court awarded a $33.5 million judgment against him for the wrongful deaths of his ex-wife and Goldman. Some of his property was seized and auctioned but most of the judgment has not been paid.
Simpson declined to discuss his finances other than to say he lives on pensions.
Red Sox legend Ortiz stable after shooting in DR
Article via ESPN
Former Boston Red Sox slugger and Dominican star David Ortiz is out of surgery and doing “fine,” according to his family, after he was shot Sunday at a club in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Ortiz’s media assistant, Leo Lopez, told ESPN’s Enrique Rojas that Ortiz is stable but still in intensive care.
“Doctors say he is out of danger, but he is heavily sedated and will be in intensive care for the next 24 hours,” Lopez said.
Lopez, a veteran reporter, said the operation lasted six hours and was performed by three doctors, led by Dr. Abel Gonzalez. The team had to remove part of Ortiz’s intestines and colon, as well as his gallbladder. Ortiz suffered liver damage.
“Doctors say that David is out of danger, thank God,” Ortiz’s father, Leo Ortiz, told ESPN. “What they have told me post-op is that the doctors believe he will recover quickly.”
Leo Ortiz added: “Big Papi will be around for a long time.”
Authorities say Ortiz was ambushed by a man who got off a motorcycle and shot him in the back at nearly point-blank range around 8:50 p.m. local time Sunday at the Dial Bar and Lounge in Santo Domingo.
Ortiz, 43, was taken to the Abel Gonzalez clinic, where he underwent surgery.
The gunman was identified as Eddy Feliz Garcia, 25, according to police spokesman Col. Frank Duran Mejia. Dominican National Police Director Ney Aldrin Bautista Almonte said Garcia was captured and beaten by a crowd of people at the bar. He suffered a cranium contusion and trauma to his thorax, left knee and right leg, according to the Dominican Republic’s National Health Service. He was treated at the Dario Contreras Hospital in Santo Domingo and then released to police custody.
Investigators are trying to determine whether Ortiz was the intended target, Bautista said. Leo Ortiz told local media he has no idea why someone would have shot at his son.
Two other people were wounded, Bautista said, including Jhoel Lopez, a Dominican TV host who was with Ortiz. Bautista said police believe Lopez was wounded by the same bullet.
Lopez was shot in the leg, and his injuries were not life-threatening, said his wife, Liza Blanco, who is also a TV host.
Police did not identify the third person or detail that person’s injuries.
Dionisio Soldevila, a reporter from the Dominican who hosts a radio show with ESPN’s Rojas, told ESPN that he spoke with the doctor who first treated Ortiz and was told Ortiz was shot in the lower back and that the bullet went through his body. According to Soldevila, Ortiz told his doctors, “Please don’t let me die. I’m a good man.”
The Dial Bar and Lounge is located in eastern Santo Domingo on Venezuela Avenue, a bustling nightlife district packed with dance clubs and pricey bars that Ortiz is known to frequent. Ortiz, who lives at least part of the year in the Dominican, is often seen getting his cars washed and hanging out with friends, including other baseball players, artists and entertainers.
Hall of Fame pitcher and fellow Dominican Pedro Martinez was among several current and former baseball players to send out tweets in support of Ortiz.
Ortiz, who was born in Santo Domingo, played major league baseball for 20 seasons and was best known for the 14 years he spent with Boston.
The Red Sox issued a statement late Sunday night that said in part, “We have offered David’s family all available resources to aid in his recovery and will continue to keep them in our hearts.”
Ortiz made 10 All-Star teams and won three World Series with the Red Sox before retiring in 2016. He was named World Series MVP in 2013, when he helped the Red Sox knock off the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2.
Big Little Lies: Coffee Shop (Season 2 Episode 1 Clip) | HBO
Based on Liane Moriarty’s bestselling book, and featuring Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley, Zoe Kravitz and Meryl Streep, the darkly comedic Big Little Lies tells the tale of three mothers whose seemingly perfect lives unravel to the point of murder