Professor James Cohen was quoted in a USA Today article about his take on the additional indictment of money laundering brought against 16 of the parents involved with the college admission cheating scam who are already facing charges of mail-fraud.
Prosecutors said the second superseding indictment also charges the defendants with conspiring to launder bribes and other payments in connection with the fraud, by funneling them through Singer’s purported charity and his for-profit corporation, as well as by transferring money into the United States, from outside the country, for the purpose of promoting the fraud scheme.
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A superseding indictment means the original indictment was amended or updated, says James Cohen, a law professor at Fordham University in New York. “Sometimes charges are added or subtracted and other times you have defendants that are added or subtracted,” he said.The bottom line for Loughlin and the rest: This is as about as good as it’s going to get in terms of a plea agreement, he said. The addition of a money-laundering charge means any defendant hoping to be “within striking distance” of a no-prison sentence will probably be disappointed.
“If you think you’re gonna get down to a guideline range where you’re likely to get probation, forget it,” Cohen said. “Or (prosecutors) may say, ‘This is as close as you’re gonna get. You might get probation but we’re not going any lower. In fact, the offers are only going to get worse.’ “