A California dad who paid $250,000 to bribe his son’s way into the University of Southern California as a bogus volleyball recruit was sentenced to two months behind bars Wednesday.
In addition to the time in the slammer, Jeffrey Bizzack, 59, was sentenced by Boston federal court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to three years of supervised release, 300 hours per year of community service and a $250,000 fine.
Prosecutors had recommended a nine-month sentence and a $75,000 fine. Bizzack’s lawyers were seeking probation and community service — arguing that he had turned himself in once the nation-wide college admissions scandal was uncovered.
Bizzack is the 12th parent to be sentenced in the sweeping take-down, that saw dozens of parents nabbed for allegedly paying bribes to get their kids into top colleges.
The Solona Beach dad pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest mail in June for paying $250,000 to scam mastermind Rick Singer in the summer of 2017.
According to court documents, Bizzack originally paid Stringer to facilitate his son’s admission to USC as a fake water polo recruit, but the college prep expert changed the profile to volleyball before forwarding the boy’s academic transcripts to the school’s athletic directors.
His son was formally accepted into the school in March 2018, according to prosecutors.
Bizzack is a former executive at the World Surf League, and had recently worked as a partner in ex pro-surfer Kelly Slater’s Wave Company, which builds artificial wave machines.
“It would probably embarrass him, but Jeff Bizzack (my business partner) is one of my heroes,” Slater said in a 2016 interview. “He has worked with me on a number of different businesses, and he is a great influence, personally and professionally.”
The admissions scandal has also ensnared actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, who were accused of paying bribes to inflate their children’s academic and athletic abilities.
Huffman pleaded guilty and served just 11 days of a 14-day sentence at a California women’s prison. Loughlin is fighting the charges and has pleaded not guilty.
With Post wires
