BOSTON (AP) — A dozen sports coaches, test administrators and others have pleaded not guilty to participating in a nationwide college admissions scam.
The defendants arrested in the Operation Varsity Blues investigation were arraigned in Boston’s federal court on Monday.
They include former Georgetown tennis coach Gordon Ernst, who has ties to Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard.
He was the director of Tennis at the Martha’s Vineyard Tennis Center until 2006 when he took a job at Georgetown.
Federal officials are said to be considering the forfeiture of a Falmouth property he owns.
Former UCLA men’s soccer coach Jorge Salcedo and Wake Forest women’s volleyball coach Bill Ferguson were also arraigned Monday.
An attorney for Ferguson told reporters his client is innocent and “does not belong in this indictment.”
The coaches are charged with accepting bribes in exchange for helping students get into school by pretending they were athletic recruits.
Hollywood stars Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin and other prominent parents charged with bribing coaches and arranging ways to cheat on their children’s entrance exams are due in court on later dates.
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