Of Course the Ex-Stanford Sailing Coach Was Sentenced to One Day in Prison
The college admissions scandal highlights the racial disparities in sentencing for white-collar fraud
In the first sentencing related to the massive college admissions scandal that broke in March, former Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer, accused of taking $610,000 in bribes to set up three prospective students as ostensible sailing recruits, was ordered to serve a single day in prison, along with a hefty fine and two years of supervised release. (The technical ruling in the case was “time served,” meaning he’ll spend zero time behind bars.) The sentence was surprising, but not totally unexpected: Federal guidelines called for between three and four years in prison, but prosecutors recommended just 13 months. The prosecutors’ reasoning: Vandemoer “has otherwise led a law-abiding life, did not directly profit financially from his crimes, promptly accepted responsibility for them, appears genuinely remorseful, and is unlikely to re-offend.” The judge apparently heard their rationale and opted to do Vandemoer one better.
Vandemoer’s sentence is a stark contrast to others who faced similar charges. In 2011, Kelley Williams-Bolar was convicted of falsifying her residency records in order to send her kids to another school…
