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Already charged with resorting to fraud and bribery to get his son into USC, John Wilson was indicted Tuesday on a new count of tax fraud, deepening the Massachusetts financier’s legal troubles and suggesting prosecutors have opened a new line of attack to pressure parents who have resisted plea deals.

For help getting his son into college, Wilson paid $220,000 in 2013 to William “Rick” Singer, a Newport Beach college admissions consultant who has admitted orchestrating a decade-long scheme to defraud some of the country’s most elite universities through doctored exams, fake athletic credentials and bribes.

Prosecutors allege Wilson was aware that Singer would misrepresent his son’s athletic prowess and intended to bribe Jovan Vavic, USC’s water polo coach. Wilson’s attorneys say the financier’s son was a bona fide water polo player and that Singer had led him to believe the payment was a legitimate donation to USC.

Wilson has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud, bribery and money laundering, one of 15 parents who have maintained their innocence in the scandal. Prosecutors are trying to extradite a 16th parent who was arrested in Spain.

Seventeen parents have pleaded guilty to an array of fraud and money laundering charges. Vavic, fired by the university in March, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering, fraud and bribery.

Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts unsealed a new indictment Tuesday, alleging Wilson committed tax fraud when he wrote off the payments in 2014. The day after his son was admitted to USC as a water polo recruit, Wilson emailed Singer, thanked him for “making this happen” and asked if he could bill him for “consulting or whatever” so he could pay with a corporate account, the indictment says.

“Yes we can send you an invoice for business consulting fees and you may write off as an expense,” Singer wrote.

Wilson’s reply, according to an affidavit filed in federal court: “Awesome!”

Singer’s accountant, Steven Masera, emailed an invoice to an employee at Wilson’s firm, Hyannis Port Capital, requesting $20,000 be paid to Singer for a “professional development program” and $100,000 to Singer’s for-profit counseling company for “business consulting.” Masera also attached a letter thanking Wilson for a $100,000 contribution to Singer’s purported charity.

Once Wilson’s firm wired the $220,000, the indictment says, Singer sent Vavic a $100,000 cashier’s check, made out to the USC men’s water polo program. Wilson wrote off the payments as charitable donations and business expenses on his 2014 tax returns, underreporting his taxable income, prosecutors allege. Wilson’s attorney didn’t respond to a request for comment. Masera has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering and is cooperating with the government.

Wilson pursued a similar deal in 2018 for his twin daughters, whom he hoped to see matriculate at Stanford or Harvard, prosecutors say. Pressed by Singer — who by that point was cooperating with the government — to commit $1.2 million, Wilson’s firm wired $500,000 to Singer’s foundation in October 2018, the indictment says.

“It’s a $500k donation I am going to make this year,” Wilson wrote to his assistant in an email, according to the indictment. “Tax write off and help getting into colleges.”

His firm wired another $500,000 two months later.

Several of Singer’s clients deducted similar payments from their tax bills, according to charging documents filed in the case. Elisabeth Kimmel, charged with conspiring to have her children admitted to Georgetown and USC as phony athletes, wrote off $275,000 that her family’s charity paid to Singer’s foundation, according to an affidavit filed in federal court. The wife of Homayoun Zadeh, a dentistry professor, asked Singer to furnish them with a tax receipt for a $25,000 donation, the affidavit says.

Zadeh has been charged with conspiring to commit fraud, bribery and money laundering to have his daughter admitted to USC — where he chaired the periodontology department — as a fake lacrosse player. Kimmel and Zadeh have pleaded not guilty.

USC, meanwhile, parted ways Tuesday with three top officials in the athletic department: Steve Lopes, its chief operating and financial officer; Ron Orr, who led fundraising efforts; and Scott Jacobson, who also worked in fundraising.

Derrick Mason, a former Tennessee Titans wide receiver, was recently indicted on a misdemeanor domestic assault charge.

The charge stems from an October 2017 incident where a woman that the 44-year-old had been dating told authorities that he grabbed hold of her neck and then slapped her and hit her in the stomach.

The Wrap reports that in December 2017 she contradicted those claims in a preliminary court hearing.

Initially, Mason was charged with felony aggravated assault involving strangulation, but that was reduced to the misdemeanor assault charge.

He is currently out of jail after posting bond.

Mason was drafted by the Tennessee Oilers in 19997 and stayed with the team after they changed their name to the Tennessee Titans.

He later went on to play for the Baltimore Ravens, the New York Jets and the Houston Texans, finally leaving the NFL in 2011.

Most recently, Mason hosted a sports talk show on Nashville’s 102.5 The Game, but was placed on leave following his arrest.

Mason isn’t the only NFL player to make headlines lately, as former Miami Dolphins star Jonathan Martin was recently arrested after sharing a photo on his Instagram page that caused police to believe he was making threats against his former prep school, Harvard-Westlake.

Martin was detained and Harvard-Westlake closed for the day. Students and faculty were instructed to stay away for their own safety.

Police also saw the photo of a gun and bullets, which included text that read, “When you’re a bully victim [and] a coward your options are suicide, or revenge,” as a possible threat to his ex-teammates Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey, as he tagged their Instagram accounts in the picture.

Law enforcement brought Martin in on Friday and, while he has not been formally charged with any crime as of yet, he is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.

“The individual we believe to be responsible for the social media post has been detained and the investigation is ongoing,” police are said to have told TMZ.

Previously, Martin was in the news after accusing both Pouncey and Incognito of abusing him physically and emotionally during his time playing with the Miami Dolphins.

The two men claimed that they were “harmlessly” hazing him, but an NFL investigation determined and ruled that Martin’s claims had validity and that he was harassed. As was previously noted, Martin is no longer an NFL player, but Pouncey still plays for the Dolphins and Incognito plays for the Buffalo Bills.

Former Tennessee Titans wide receiver was arrested in October after a woman he was dating said he attacked her

Debbie Emery, provided by

Published 12:41 pm, Monday, March 26, 2018

Former Tennessee Titans wide receiver Derrick Mason has been indicted on a misdemeanor domestic assault charge stemming from an incident in October.

Mason, who was a two-time Pro Bowler during his time in the NFL from 1997 to 2011, was handed a one-charge indictment by the Davidson County grand jury on Friday, the Tennessean reported.

According to court documents cited by the report, Mason, 44, attacked a woman who he had been dating in October 2017. She initially told police officers that he grabbed her by the neck, hit her in the stomach and slapped her, but later contradicted those statements in court during a preliminary hearing last December.

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Mason was at first charge with felony aggravated assault involving strangulation but the charges were then reduced to a misdemeanor assault charge. He is currently out of jail on bond.

After being drafted by the Tennessee Oilers in the fourth round of the 1997 NFL draft, Mason remained with the team when they charged their name to the Tennessee Titans. He went on to play for the Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets and Houston Texans.

Mason recently co-hosted a Nashville sports talk radio show on 102.5 The Game but was placed on leave of absence following his arrest.

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“We do not fully know what occurred in court this morning,” Bud Walters, president of the station’s parent company, The Cromwell Group, said in a statement to the Tennessean in December. “We are trying to learn more. Derrick has always maintained that he is completely innocent of the charges and we have no reason not to believe him.” He is still listed on the station’s website and social media channels.

Read original story Ex-NFL Player Derrick Mason Indicted on Domestic Assault Charge At TheWrap