Peter Dameris is 25th parent to plead guilty in college admission scandal
By Toi Creel
A Pacific Palisade man is one of 54 people charged in a college admission scandal called by many “Varsity Blues”.
Peter Dameris of Pacific Palisades is the 25th parent to plead guilty to an incident that happened in 2015.
Admission consultant William “Rick” Singer helped parents falsify information to get their children into big-name schools.
Using tactics such as creating fake athletic profiles and falsifying admissions tests, Singer made students look more marketable to schools.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston, in 2015 60-year-old Dameris worked with Singer and Georgetown’s tennis coach by showing off his son’s competitive tennis ability, even though he did not compete in the sport.
In late September 2015, Dameris’s son was chosen for an interview with a Georgetown alum. Prosecutors say Singer told Dameris that the interview was just a formality but that his son should refrain from discussing competitive rowing, which he actually has participated in during high school.
Dameris also made a $300,000 payment to Singer’s purported charity, the Key Worldwide Foundation, according to prosecutors, knowing that the money would be used to facilitate Dameris’s son’s purported recruitment to Georgetown University as a tennis player,
Dameris’s son was admitted into Georgetown in April 2016.
The charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.
According to the terms of Dameris’ plea agreement, the government will recommend a sentence of time served, 21 months of home confinement, a fine of $95,000 and restitution.
Dameris, who formally served as the Chief Executive for ASGN Inc.–a Calabasas-based staffing company–resigned in April 2019 citing familial reasons. In July 2019, however, the company terminated Dameris’ employment due to the investigation into the college admissions scandal, according to the Security and Exchange Commission.
“The company was not able to negotiate the terms of a transition agreement with Mr. Dameris and terminated him without cause pursuant to his employment agreement,” an SEC filing reads.
Sam Catanzaro contributed to this report
