Former UCLA soccer coach pleads guilty to taking $200K in college admissions scandal

A former men’s soccer coach at the University of California, Los Angeles, on Tuesday agreed to plead guilty in connection with the college admissions scandal.

Jorge Salcedo will plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit racketeering in connection with taking $200,000 to ensure two students, posing as soccer recruits, were admitted to UCLA, according to USA Today.

Federal prosecutors have recommended Salcedo, who was UCLA’s head soccer coach from 2004 to 2019, serve on the “low end” of sentencing guidelines between 24 to 30 months in prison, forfeiture of up to $200,000 and a year of supervised release.

Prosecutors said Salcedo reached an agreement in 2016 with Rick Singer, the mastermind of the scheme, and former University of Southern California women’s soccer head coach Ali Khosroshahin to ensure the daughter of Bruce and Davina Isackson was designated a soccer recruit.

Later, in 2018, the three made a similar arrangement to ensure the son of another Singer client, Xiaoning Sui, was admitted as a soccer recruit. Sui, a resident of British Columbia and Chinese national, pleaded guilty to bribery in February following a months-long extradition process after her arrest in Spain.

Salcedo, a former Mexican Soccer League and Major League Soccer player, resigned his coaching position after he was indicted in March 2019.

His guilty plea leaves only three indicted former coaches fighting charges: ex-Georgetown tennis coach Gordon Ernst, former Wake Forest volleyball coach William Ferguson and former USC polo coach Jovan Vavi, according to USA Today.

Three other alleged co-conspirators have also maintained their innocence, former USC athletic department official Donna Heinel, former test administrator Niki Williams, and ex-Singer employee Mikaela Sanford.

A separate group of 14 indicted parents, among them “Full House” actress Lori Loughlin, are set to begin a two-phase trial beginning in October.