Robert Repella, College Admissions Bribery, Massachusetts 2020

BOSTON – A brazen scheme to secure a spot at a prestigious university has landed a Pennsylvania man in hot water, with a one-year probation sentence and a hefty fine.

Robert Repella, 63, of Ambler, Penn., was handed down a 1-year probation sentence, with the first 25 days spent in home detention, 220 hours of community service and a fine of $220,000 by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs in connection with using fraud and bribery to facilitate his child’s acceptance to Georgetown University.

According to court documents, Repella pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud in May 2020. The scheme involved Repella paying Georgetown tennis coach Gordon Ernst more than $120,000 directly to purport to recruit his daughter to the Georgetown tennis team, despite her abilities not being at the level of a typical Georgetown recruit.

Repella first met with Ernst in August 2017 and agreed to pay Ernst to use one of his six yearly recruitment slots for Repella’s daughter. During an arranged Georgetown campus visit for Repella’s daughter, Repella handed Ernst a check in the amount of $25,000. He made a second payment of $25,000 to Ernst slightly more than two weeks later. After Ernst designated Repella’s daughter as one of his tennis recruits, Repella made additional payments to Ernst, or for his benefit, through August 2018, including tuition payments to Ernst’s daughters’ private high school.

Ernst previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 months in prison, two years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $3,435,053. The scheme was unrelated to the college admissions conspiracy led by William “Rick” Singer, which also involved Ernst.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins, Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, and Terry Harris, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General Eastern Regional Office made the announcement today.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen E. Frank, Leslie A. Wright, Kristen A. Kearney and Ian Stearns of Rollins’ Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.