LOS ANGELES _ Douglas Hodge, the former chief executive of global investment giant PIMCO, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering, the first of four parents who will reverse their not-guilty pleas on Monday after coming under new pressure from federal prosecutors in the college admissions scandal.
In pleading guilty before U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton on Monday morning, Hodge acknowledged paying William "Rick" Singer, the Newport Beach consultant at the center of the scandal, $525,000 to have two of his children admitted to USC as bogus athletic recruits.
Hodge, a Laguna Beach resident and former chief of one of the world's largest asset management firms, had balked at a deal offered after his arrest in March to plead guilty to a single fraud conspiracy charge and was subsequently indicted on an additional charge of money laundering conspiracy.
He reversed course late last week after prosecutors warned parents who had so far maintained their innocence that they could be charged with committing federal program bribery as soon as this week, people familiar with the negotiations said.
Three other parents _ Michelle Janavs, a philanthropist from the Newport Coast; Manuel Henriquez, a Bay Area venture capitalist, and his wife, Elizabeth Henriquez _ said late last week they would plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering. All three are scheduled to plead guilty Monday.
In a prepared statement, Hodge said he took "full and complete responsibility" for his crimes and apologized to his family and "deserving college students who may have been adversely impacted by this process."
"I acted out of love for my children," he said, "but I know that this explanation for my actions is not an excuse."
Hodge paid Singer $200,000 to misrepresent his daughter to USC as a soccer standout _ co-captain of "a Japanese national soccer team" and an "All-American midfielder" _ which helped secure her admission to the school in 2013 as a recruited athlete, according to charging documents filed in federal court.
Singer wired $100,000 to two USC soccer coaches, Ali Khosroshahin and Laura Janke, who were complicit in the scheme, according to an indictment returned by a grand jury in April. Both coaches pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and are cooperating with prosecutors.
Hodge's daughter matriculated at USC in 2013 but never played soccer for the school, prosecutors said.
In 2014, Hodge paid another $325,000 to ensure his son was admitted to USC as a bogus football player, prosecutors said. After creating two fake profiles for Hodge to submit to USC _ one presenting his son as a football player, the other as a tennis standout _ Singer told Hodge in an email, "Obviously we have stretched the truth but this is what is done for all kids," the indictment says.
