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Feds seek 21 months for Hot Pockets heiress who tried to get daughter admitted to USC as fake recruit

Slayven

Slayven

Never read a comic in his life
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
93,202
ktla.com

Hot Pockets heiress who tried to get daughter admitted to USC as fake recruit gets 5 months in prison

An heir to the Hot Pockets fortune was sentenced to five months in prison Tuesday for trying to cheat and bribe her daughters’ way into school as part of a nationwide college admissions scam.…
ktla.com ktla.com

Prosecutors are seeking nearly two years in prison for an heiress to the Hot Pockets microwavable snack fortune who agreed to pay $300,000 to cheat the college admissions process for her daughters in a nationwide bribery scheme.
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Janavs admitted to paying the consultant at the center of the scheme, Rick Singer, $100,000 to have a proctor correct her daughters' ACT exam answers. She also agreed to pay $200,000 to have one of her daughters labeled as a fake beach volleyball recruit at the University of Southern California but she was arrested before the girl was formally admitted, prosecutors said.
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All that money and you could have just set your kid to literally do anything in life.
As the resident Hot Pocket Expert Fat4all care to comment?
 
Lucas M. Thomas

Lucas M. Thomas

Editor-in-Chief of Nintendo Force Magazine
Verified
Oct 30, 2017
2,290
Kentucky
3bf6e7c43dd76fa4412571b9f1e0a503.jpg
 
Sho_Nuff82

Sho_Nuff82

Member
Nov 14, 2017
18,448
I can see some sort of administrative punishment being necessary, but 2 years in jail is pretty ridiculous considering the sentences being passed down to the clowns who lied to Congress.

Just like that mom who got convicted for faking her address for his kid's HS, or the woman who voted in the wrong district and got 5 years in Texas, there has to be a more productive way to send a message.

Considering the family's wealth, a shorter jail sentence (1-3 mo) and a fine towards a scholarship fund that covers, say, 10 additional waitlisted students' full tuition, would be both a public service and a warning.
 
Haint

Haint

Banned
Oct 14, 2018
1,361
I can't wrap my head around why all these rich people, with presumably 10's+ of millions of dollars in investments and assets, cared this much about their children getting into prestigious (is USC prestigious?) colleges in the first place. The kids were set for life off the dividends and returns alone, and a very wealthy lifestyle at that.
 
cameron

cameron

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
23,832
Prosecutors are asking for 21 months in prison, calling her one of the "most culpable parents" charged in the case. They note in court documents that she engaged in the scheme multiple times and waited to accept responsibility until months after she was arrested.
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Unlike other parents who have been sentenced so far, Janavs was also hit with an additional charge of money laundering conspiracy, which prosecutors tacked on for parents who didn't quickly plead guilty.
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Should've plead guilty sooner, Janavs.



Janavs' lawyers portrayed her in court documents as a dedicated mother and philanthropist who fell for Singer's "manipulative sales tactics" because of the love for her children and stress caused by the hyper-competitive college admissions process. Janavs' lawyers say she has already been punished enough and are urging the judge not to send her to prison.
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lol
 
Christian

Christian

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,636
Haint said:
I can't wrap my head around why all these rich people, with presumably 10's+ of millions of dollars in investments and assets, cared this much about their children getting into prestigious (is USC prestigious?) colleges in the first place. The kids were set for life off the dividends and returns alone, and a very wealthy lifestyle at that.
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USC is average, at best. Which makes this even more hilarious.
 
Perfect Chaos

Perfect Chaos

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,342
Charlottesville, VA, USA
Haint said:
I can't wrap my head around why all these rich people, with presumably 10's+ of millions of dollars in investments and assets, cared this much about their children getting into prestigious (is USC prestigious?) colleges in the first place. The kids were set for life off the dividends and returns alone, and a very wealthy lifestyle at that.
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No, which makes this all the more bewildering.
 
$10 Bagel

$10 Bagel

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,481
What's going to happen to USC? Nothing I imagine even though they're complicit in all of this. Article says the Full House person paid 500k, so between these two clowns alone they made almost a million.
 
ultracal31

ultracal31

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,617
Haint said:
I can't wrap my head around why all these rich people, with presumably 10's+ of millions of dollars in investments and assets, cared this much about their children getting into prestigious (is USC prestigious?) colleges in the first place. The kids were set for life off the dividends and returns alone, and a very wealthy lifestyle at that.
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It's the image really, a talking point whenever its bought up at social gatherings

Sorta like having the new purse from the expensive brand or the new iphone

granted I'm not sure why USC though? Is it Ivy league?
 
JeTmAn

JeTmAn

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,825
What is the dumbest product you can be an heir to

"Meet Frederick, the Vagisil heir"
 
Sacrilicious

Sacrilicious

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,328
ultracal31 said:
granted I'm not sure why USC though? Is it Ivy league?
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No, it's not a particularly high ranked school, but they're willing to take the money. The highest ranked universities in California are mainly in the UC system (all public) so you can't really buy yourself in.

Given the lack of competition, it makes sense that the biggest private university in LA can dominate the trust fund market in southern California if they are willing to play ball.
 
PoppaBK

PoppaBK

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,165
Haint said:
I can't wrap my head around why all these rich people, with presumably 10's+ of millions of dollars in investments and assets, cared this much about their children getting into prestigious (is USC prestigious?) colleges in the first place. The kids were set for life off the dividends and returns alone, and a very wealthy lifestyle at that.
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Pretty sure it's the location as much as the prestige. Kids just want to party, parents need them to look mildly not dumb.
 
Sacrilicious

Sacrilicious

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,328
Dr. Feel Good said:
What are you talking about? It's ranked #22 in the nation. Ahead of schools like Carnegie Melon, Georgetown, Michigan, Virginia, and NYU.

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That's...a pretty strange list. I work in academia and that list is very out of line with any of the rankings we've ever used (e.g. QS, Times Higher Education).

I mean, they have it tied with Berkeley and that's universally considered higher tier.

EDIT: From their methodology, "more than one-third of a school's rank comes from its success at retaining and graduating students". While that can be a useful metric, it's significantly biased in favor of universities that let you buy your way through, plus it's not necessarily a marker of quality (top universities are not known for being easy)
 
ultracal31

ultracal31

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,617
Sacrilicious said:
No, it's not a particularly high ranked school, but they're willing to take the money. The highest ranked universities in California are mainly in the UC system (all public) so you can't really buy yourself in.

Given the lack of competition, it makes sense that the biggest private university in LA can dominate the trust fund market in southern California if they are willing to play ball.
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thanks for the info

perhaps she chose it to avoid being caught but....that didn't work out too well
 
Conciliator

Conciliator

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,132
I honestly have to thank her, because of this i got to read the phrase "Hot Pockets microwavable snack fortune"
 
cameron

cameron

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
23,832
5 months:

www.nbcnews.com

Hot Pockets heiress sentenced to 5 months in prison for role in college admissions scandal

"I'm so very sorry I tried to create an unfair advantage for my children," Michelle Janavs told the court.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com
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Hot Pockets heiress Michelle Janavs was sentenced to five months in prison on Tuesday for her paying a fixer to get her daughters into the University of Southern California.​
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www.latimes.com

College admissions scandal: Heir to Hot Pockets fortune sentenced to 5 months

Michelle Janavs, heiress to a frozen foods fortune, was sentenced Tuesday to five months in prison in the college admissions scandal.
www.latimes.com www.latimes.com
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The five-month term, handed down by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, came short of the 21 months that federal prosecutors had requested. They wanted an enhancement for what they called an abuse of trust, saying Janavs used her status as trustee of her daughters' school, the Sage Hill School in Newport Beach, "to insulate herself from the fraud."​
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The school wouldn't ask questions if she switched her daughter's test location to a school where Singer had bribed an administrator, Janavs told Singer in a recorded phone call, assuring him, "They can't say anything to me."​
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In addition, she must pay a fine of $250,000, perform 200 hours of community service and remain on supervised release for two years.​
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Janavs, the 15th parent sentenced in the admission scandal, was among four parents who reversed their not-guilty pleas last year after learning they would likely be charged with bribery.​
 
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