Developer Robert Flaxman will spend a month in jail after pleading guilty to paying $75,000 to help his daughter cheat on a college entrance exam.
Flaxman is one of two L.A.-area developers — the other is Bruce Isackson — to plead guilty in the wide-ranging college admissions scandal that surfaced earlier this year. He was sentenced Friday in federal court in Boston, according to the Associated Press.
Federal prosecutors charged 33 people following an investigation dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues.” The most well-known of the bunch were actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin. Huffman is serving a two-week sentence after pleading guilty to paying an admissions fixer to change her SAT scores. Loughlin pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
Flaxman is CEO of Costa Mesa-based Crown Realty & Development, which has a handful of projects around the L.A. area. Its most recent venture is a 15.6-acre mixed-use development in Burbank. It’s partnering with Arrow Retail of Dallas.
Flaxman faced a maximum of 14 months in prison. Prosecutors recommended eight months detention. Flaxman paid to have a test proctor give his daughter answers during an ACT exam in 2016, prosecutors said. The exam score was later used to get into an undisclosed college, which suspended her for a semester when the allegations surfaced, according to the Associated Press.
Isackson is president of Irvine-based WP Investments. He and his wife, Davina Isackson, face between 27 and 46 months in prison for paying $600,000 to secure their two children admission into the UCLA and USC. [The AP] — Dennis Lynch