Former Palo Altan sentenced in college admissions scam

Former TPG Capital senior executive William McGlashan Jr., previously of Palo Alto, was sentenced last week to three months in prison and a $250,000 fine for his involvement in the 2019 college bribery admissions scandal in which 57 people face federal charges, including Hollywood celebrities, college athletics coaches and multimillionaire business executives.

McGlashan, 57, was sentenced by the U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to three months in prison, two years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 and 250 hours of community service on May 12. After initially trying to fight the charges, McGlashan pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and honest services wire fraud on Feb. 10. He previously worked as managing partner of global private equity firm TPG Growth and co-founded The Rise Fund.

In 2017, McGlashan agreed to pay co-conspirator William “Rick” Singer to bribe college admissions test administrator Igor Dvorskiy, who had test proctor Mark Riddell secretly correct McGlashan’s son’s ACT exam answers; the teen’s score was fraudulently inflated to 34. McGlashan made a purported donation of $50,000 from his personal charitable fund to Singer’s sham charity, Key Worldwide Foundation. Singer then paid Dvorskiy and Riddell, according to federal prosecutors. Singer, Dvorskiy and Riddell have pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme.

McGlashan was initially accused of participating in both the college entrance exam cheating scheme and an athlete recruitment scheme, which paid some coaches to admit students through athletic recruitment for sports they had never played, according to federal prosecutors. He was accused of conspiracy to bribe Donna Heinel, a senior associate athletic director at the University of Southern California at the time. Prosecutors alleged that he wanted to ensure that his older son was accepted to the university as a recruited athlete, according to a Department of Justice court filing. In 2019, a federal grand jury added a money laundering charge against him.

McGlashan is the ninth Bay Area resident to be sentenced in the nationwide scam. Other residents, who have taken plea deals and were sentenced to punishments ranging from fines with no jail time to a few months in prison with hefty fines, include former Stanford University sailing coach John Vandemoer; Menlo Park residents Marjorie Klapper and Peter Jan Sartorio; Atherton residents Manuel Henriquez and Elizabeth Henriquez; and Napa vintner Agustin Huneeus Jr.

Hillsborough residents Bruce and Davina Isackson have pleaded guilty but have not yet been sentenced.

Three people have pleaded not guilty and await trials: Palo Alto residents Amy and Gregory Colburn and Hillsborough resident Marci Palatella.