VICTORIA —
The B.C. government has terminated membership in the Order of British Columbia for a former Canadian Football League player involved in a U.S. college admissions cheating scam.
David Sidoo, a former CFL player and businessman from Vancouver, was appointed to the Order of B.C. in July 2016. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in a Boston federal court in March.
On Friday, the province announced it had revoked Sidoo’s membership in the Order of B.C.
“This process is initiated when a member of the order is convicted of a criminal offence or when their conduct undermines the credibility and integrity of the order,” the province said in a statement.
Sidoo was among 50 prominent parents, university athletic coaches and others charged in the scheme, which authorities say involved rigged entrance exams and bogus athletic credentials to make applicants look like star athletes for sports they didn’t play.
Sidoo paid the admissions consultant at the centre of the scheme US$200,000 to have someone pose as his sons using a fake ID to secure higher scores on their SATs, prosecutors said.
Sidoo and nearly two dozen parents, including Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman, pleaded guilty to the charges. Huffman was sentenced to two weeks in prison. Sentences for other parents range from no prison time to nine months behind bars.
Sidoo played professional football for six years for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and BC Lions. He was CEO of mining firm Advantage Lithium Corp. when he was arrested last year and was also a founding shareholder of an oil and gas company that was sold in 2010 for more than $600 million.
With files from The Associated Press