Ex-PIMCO CEO Gets 9 Months In Prison For Role In College Admissions Scandal

The former CEO of bond giant PIMCO, Douglas Hodge, has been sentenced to 9 months in prison for his role in the college admissions scandal that rocked the nation – and the wealthy – last year, according to Bloomberg. 

“I have made serious mistakes in judgment, and, in the process I have violated the law. For these actions, I take full responsibility and I am truly sorry,” Hodge had written in a letter to the judge, according to the WSJ. 

Feds had previously alleged that Hodge “agreed to use bribery to facilitate the admission of two of his children to USC as purported athletic recruits” and “sought to enlist the support of a cooperating witness to help a third child gain college admission.” During his guilty plea, he later admitted to being in talks to help a fourth and fifth child. 

Prosecutors had been asking for two years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $200,000 fine and 300 hours of community service. Hodge’s lawyers had been asking for a prison sentence between zero and six months, with the ability for Hodge to be able to fulfill some of his time with supervised release and community service. 

In April 2019, we reported that Hodge was suiting up to muster an aggressive legal defense alongside of TV star Lori Loughlin. In retrospect, it did not work.

Meanwhile, as we follow up earlier this month, Loughlin faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted on all charges – though the chances of this actually happening fall somewhere between slim and none based on the short sentences handed out to other offenders in the scandal. Loughlin had faced two years under a plea deal she declined, according to TMZ.

In October 2019, the LA Times had reported Hodge planned to plead guilty.

Back in late September, we reported that California businessman Devin Sloane was the second parent to be sentenced to prison for participating in the largest ever college admissions scandal in the U.S.. Sloane was accused of offering bribes to help get his son into a prestigious university and was charged with fraud. 

The 53 year old Sloane was sentenced to four months in prison and was also ordered to pay a $95,000 fine and perform 500 hours of community service. 

We’ll update this story as additional information becomes available.