VANCOUVER businessman David Sidoo said, “I make no excuses, I broke the law,” as he was sentenced to 90 days in jail, minus four days for time served, after pleading guilty in a Boston, Massachusetts court for his role in the U.S. college admissions scam.
Sidoo will also pay a US$250,000 fine. He has to report to prison by September 23.
Sidoo said that he had to take responsibility for his actions, and apologized to his family and the community for his actions.
U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton said Sidoo committed a crime that displayed “an unbelievable lack of integrity, morality and common sense.” However, the judge found “extenuating circumstances,” noting Sidoo’s philanthropy.
Sidoo’s membership in the Order of British Columbia was terminated June 12 after the former Canadian Football League player pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in a U.S. federal court on March 13.
Last year in March, Sidoo was accused of paying William ‘Rick’ Singer, who prosecutors say was behind the scheme to help wealthy families get their children’s entrance to prestigious U.S. schools, to have Mark Riddell write SATs for his sons in 2011 and 2012, besides a high school graduation exam. The older son got admission to a private university in California. The younger son went to the University of California-Berkeley.
Sidoo was a highly successful businessman, a leading philanthropist and a highly decorated athlete. He is one of the few who have been inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame, the BC Football Hall of Fame and the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
He captained UBC to the university’s first Vanier Cup national championship in 1982 and played six seasons in the Canadian Football League CFL (1983-89) with Saskatchewan Roughriders and BC Lions.
Sidoo also resurrected the high school football program in New Westminster Secondary. He has invested millions of dollars in youth sport across British Columbia, including the Canada Basketball Foundation skills camps, supporting Olympic athletes in training and youth sports scholarships.
The Sidoo Field at Thunderbird Stadium was named in his honour. But now the name has been removed.