RI Sports Star Ernst Pleads Guilty in College Admissions Case

RI Sports Star Ernst Pleads Guilty in College Admissions Case

On Monday, Gordon Ernst, the former head coach of men and women’s tennis at Georgetown University, pleaded guilty in connection to soliciting and accepting bribes to facilitate the admission of prospective Georgetown applicants and failing to report all of the income from the bribes on his federal income taxes.

Ernst, 54, of Chevy Chase, Md. and Falmouth, Mass., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, three counts of federal programs bribery and one count of filing a false tax return. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for March 2, 2022.

After he left Georgetown, he served as the tennis coach at the University of Rhode Island.

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He was one of Rhode Island's most decorated high school sports stars in both hockey and tennis.

As set forth in the charging document, Ernst solicited and received bribe payments from William “Rick” Singer and the families of prospective Georgetown applicants to facilitate their admission to Georgetown as student-athletes. Ernst then failed to report all of the income from those bribe payments on his federal income tax returns.

Under the terms of Ernst’s plea agreement, the parties have agreed to a sentence of at least one year and up to four years in prison, two years of supervised release and forfeiture of $3,435,053.

The charge of federal programs bribery provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.

The charge of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of filing a false tax return provides for a sentence of up to three years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $100,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.