California Man Gets 6 Months in Harshest Penalty in College Case

A California man was sentenced to six months in jail for paying $450,000 in bribes to get his two kids into the University of Southern California, claiming falsely that his 5-foot-5-inch son was a 6-foot-1 basketball recruit and that his daughter was a top-flight soccer player.

Toby MacFarlane, the 13th parent to be sentenced in a sweeping college-admissions cheating case, received the harshest penalty yet at his sentencing in Boston Wednesday. Prosecutors had asked that MacFarlane receive a year and a day behind bars.

“You need to understand the devastating nature of your crimes,” U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton told ...