Xiaoning Sui, Mother Who Paid $400,000 To Get Her Son Into College, Sentenced To Five Months In Prison

Xiaoning Sui, a 48-year-old mother from Surrey, British Columbia, is the most recent person involved in the college admissions scandal to be sentenced. It was revealed this week that Sui will spend about five months in prison for $400,000 in bribery funds to get her son into the University of California, Los Angeles, according to NBC News.

In addition to prison time, Sui will also have to pay a $250,000 fine. She is among dozens of other wealthy and influential parents involved in the scandal who worked with the mastermind of the cheating scheme, Rick Singer. In addition to using bribery, she also tried to falsely present her son to UCLA as a soccer recruit. Nevertheless, he did not play soccer competitively.

A statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts laid out the specific details of the case, explaining that Sui knew full well what she was doing when she got involved with Singer and that she understood how her money would be spent.

“Sui agreed with William “Rick” Singer to pay $400,000 to facilitate her son’s admission to UCLA as a purported soccer recruit, even though he did not play competitive soccer. During a phone call in August 2018, Singer explained to Sui that he would write Sui’s son’s application in a “special way” that would guarantee his admission to UCLA, in exchange for $400,000.”

During the time that Singer and Sui were working together, the FBI had already caught on to his illicit activity. In exchange for being granted less severe charges, Singer agreed to wear a wire during phone calls with his clients. It was through these phone recordings that law enforcement had adequate proof to convict Sui.

Sui was initially arrested for her crimes in Spain on September 16, 2019. In an attempt to lessen her charges, she took a plea deal in February of 2020, accepting one count of federal programs bribery.

“Sui has agreed to forfeit the $400,000 that she paid to facilitate the crime,” the statement from U.S. Attorney’s Office read.

Sui’s son’s name was not mentioned in the statement. It is also not clear to what degree the teenager was aware, if at all, of his mother’s actions prior to her arrest.

As The Inquisitr previously reported, there are still over a dozen parents involved in this case that are still waiting for their sentencing. Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli are among them. They have pleaded not guilty to paying $500,000 to get their daughters into the University of Southern California.