Parent pleads guilty in college admissions scheme

BOSTON (AP) — A woman charged in the college admissions scandal pleaded guilty Friday to paying $400,000 to get her son into the University of California, Los Angeles, as a fake soccer recruit.

Xiaoning Sui, 49, a Chinese citizen who lives in Surrey, British Columbia, pleaded guilty to a single count of federal programs bribery in Boston's federal court.

The charge is used in cases of bribery at organizations that received at least $10,000 in federal funding in a single year. In this case, Sui is accused of bribing an official at UCLA. Prosecutors are recommending no additional jail time for Sui, who was arrested in Spain in September and held there while authorities extradited her to the United States.

Dressed in a gray sweatsuit and speaking through a Chinese interpreter, Sui said she agreed with the prosecutors' account.

According to charging documents, Sui paid $400,000 to a sham charity operated by admissions consultant William “Rick” Singer as part of a scheme to have her son admitted as a fake soccer recruit at UCLA.

Prosecutors say Singer worked with Laura Janke, a former assistant soccer coach at the University of Southern California, to fabricate an athletic profile depicting Sui’s son as a top player on two soccer clubs in Canada, even though he did not play competitive soccer. Both Singer and Janke have pleaded guilty.

UCLA admitted Sui's son as a soccer player in November 2018, authorities say, and awarded him a 25% scholarship. In September, UCLA said it had taken “immediate corrective action” after learning of the case.

Sui's lawyer, Martin Weinberg, said his client was on vacation in Spain when she was arrested on behalf of U.S. authorities. Weinberg said that Sui did not know she was wanted by the U.S. until her arrest. She was initially...