The final case connected to the college-admissions scandal ended with the sorry saga’s first acquittal at trial on Thursday. Megabucks aviation mogul Amin Khoury was accused of making an illicit $200,000 payment to Gordon Ernst—a Georgetown University tennis coach who has previously admitted accepting more than $3 million in bribes—to secure a spot for his daughter at the school. Khoury was found not guilty of mail fraud and conspiracy charges, which were brought following the Operation Varsity Blues probe. The explosive investigation resulted in 54 other people either being convicted at trial or pleading guilty, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, as some of America’s wealthiest people sought to get their kids into Ivy League schools via illegal means. Defense attorney Roy Black argued Khoury’s daughter got accepted into Georgetown on her own merit and that his client was “thrilled” with the acquittal.
