Federal Judge Orders Return of Million-Dollar Donation After False Prosecution of John Wilson in Varsity Blues Case

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Apr 22, 2024, 10:56 ET

Varsity Blues Defendant Exonerated

BOSTON, April 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In a significant ruling, a federal judge has ordered Boston federal prosecutors to return vindicated Varsity Blues parent John Wilson's lawful $1 million donation, which he made to an IRS-certified foundation to support college programs at Harvard and Stanford Universities. This decision comes after Wilson had all the core Varsity Blues charges against him unanimously overturned by the First Circuit Court of Appeals and the government dropped those same charges last year.

As one of the parents originally charged in the "Varsity Blues" cases, John Wilson was used as a hook to bring the trials of Hollywood parents to Boston, Massachusetts.

The ruling underscores the egregious missteps of the government's investigation into Wilson's dealings with confessed conman Rick Singer who operated a college consulting business for more than 1,750 clients, including world famous tech CEOs and sports icons. In the Varsity Blues case, Singer collaborated with the government to entrap Wilson by crafting a sting operation that deceived him into making a $1 million donation to an IRS-certified charity.

The judge ruled that the government must return the withheld funds. The return of the donation, which Wilson made in good faith years before his daughters' college applications were to be submitted, signifies the triumph of truth over the government's false narrative and is a meaningful step in restoring Wilson and his family's reputations.

Attorney for John Wilson, Michael Kendall of White & Case LLP, released the following statement:

"John Wilson proved in court that the government should never have included him in the Varsity Blues prosecution. And today the Court agreed to return the lawful donations John made for college programs. The courts have vindicated John Wilson and reversed all the core convictions against him. John did not commit fraud, he did not bribe any universities, and he did not partake in a grand conspiracy. His children were all highly successful students who were qualified for admission to each school they applied to based on their own athletic and academic merits."

John Wilson released the following statement:

"What the government did to me should never happen to anyone. After five years, I can finally share my story. Being falsely charged and railroaded though a completely unfair trial has been a devastating experience. I've been shocked at how our criminal justice system can be weaponized with extreme high-pressure tactics against someone who may serve some ulterior purpose. Once you're in the government's cross hairs, they double down and quadruple down to force you to plead guilty.

Friday's ruling reaffirms my innocence. I made legal donations to IRS-verified foundations intended to support college programs. The University of Southern California gave me a receipt for my 2014 donations and to this day has kept these donations. The U.S. government confiscated my 2018 donations and did not return these funds even after all the charges were dropped. The judge's decision to return my donation reinforces that the prosecution spent more than half a decade pursuing a vindictive and self-serving case against me and my innocent children.

Time and time again the courts have shown that the Boston federal prosecutors unjustly targeted my family as part of a false conspiracy to use me as the venue "hook" — the sole initial Massachusetts resident — to win any turf battles to keep this high-profile case in Boston. Charging me helped the prosecutors justify bringing the Hollywood celebrities and other West Coast parents to trial in Boston along with the media spotlights that could enhance their careers.

Since over 90% of the parents charged were based in California, and Singer and his organization were in California and the Colleges involved were primarily in California, it made no sense holding these trials in Boston. But without charging me, the Boston prosecutors likely would have had to cede these headline grabbing cases to California prosecutors. So, my family became collateral damage in a power-hungry quest for media fame.

The Boston prosecutors had overwhelming evidence that I was innocent from the very start. We know this because they blocked my evidence and other relevant motions more than 600 times during my trial, including never letting the jury or the public see: my twin daughters' perfect and near perfect ACT test scores, 100+ examples of USC giving admissions boosts to donors, or my son's world record swim and his official swim times which proved he was one of the fastest players on USC's 2014 team. Even my own emails proving I was conned by Singer were improperly excluded from my trial.

My trial was so unfair that eleven former U.S. Attorneys from across the country, appointed by both Democrat and Republican US Presidents, took the extraordinary step of publicly criticizing their former colleagues in this case, stating that 'John Wilson did not receive a fair trial.' I was left with a residual tax conviction for using the business invoice instead of the receipt I had received from USC for my donation on my tax return. This was not tax avoidance as the government acknowledged that I substantially overpaid my taxes that year.

As a father and a husband, it has been heartbreaking to watch the government make relentless and knowingly false statements about my children's credentials to pressure me into taking a plea deal. I had always been taught that federal prosecutors would protect innocent school age children — not knowingly and falsely attacking them to try to win a case. I worry that speaking these truths risks future retaliation by the prosecutors against my family. However, I feel the only way to clear my family's reputation is to speak the truth.

I've been shocked at how our criminal justice system has become increasingly weaponized. I was taught to believe that truth and justice was the ultimate goal. The reality turned out to be that for certain prosecutors winning at all costs could be far more important than the truth. Friday's ruling brings my innocent family one step closer to finding closure."

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