Former Yale Soccer Coach Pleads Guilty In College Admissions Scandal

One of the key players in a massive multi-million dollar college admissions scandal has pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Rudolph "Rudy" Meredith, who was the women's soccer coach at Yale for 24 years, was accused of taking bribes from the families of prospective students and falsely claiming they were student-athletes.

FBI agents busted Meredith during a sting operation last year. Undercover agents met with him at a hotel in Boston, and he told them he would help them get a student into Yale by falsifying records and claiming that she was a soccer player in exchange for $450,000. He accepted a $2,000 cash payment at the time and then later received a second payment of $4,000 via a wire transfer.

"It was his attempt to defraud Yale," Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen said. "It’s a clear bribe."

Meredith faces up to 20 years in jail, but he expects to get a lesser sentence because he has cooperated with investigators and helped lead authorities to Rick Singer, the accused ringleader of the college admission scam.

Yale officials say they checked the credentials of all student-athletes who were admitted to the school since 2015 and only found one instance of a player who was admitted under false pretenses.

"Furthermore, with the exception of the single student who was fraudulently admitted, we have determined that all enrolled Yale students who were admitted with an athletic endorsement played at least one season on their varsity sports team," Yale President Peter Salovey said.