B.C. businessman David Sidoo has withdrawn as a member of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame after he was sentenced to 90 days in jail for his role in the U.S. college admissions scandal.
The hall of fame had been in the midst of reviewing Sidoo’s status as an “honoured member” and recipient of the W.A.C. Bennett Award (Class of 2017).
“Our board of trustees, which had initiated the review according to the rules and regulations of the hall, today officially received and accepted the voluntary withdrawal,” the organization said Friday.
Sidoo, an investment banker, had been inducted for his work with the UBC Thunderbirds football team as a supporter and player on the 1982 Vanier Cup winning team.
He was also the first Indo-Canadian player in the Canadian Football League after being drafted by the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
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The football field at UBC was previously named after him, but that was removed following the scandal.
He also became the first person to lose their Order of B.C.
Sidoo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in U.S. federal court back in March.
Prosecutors had alleged he paid an admissions consultant two instalments of $100,000 to have an associate take the SATs for his two sons, and that he had attempted to pay for further tests.
At his sentencing hearing on July 15, the judge told Sidoo he had displayed an “unbelievable lack of integrity, morality and common sense” in trying to cheat his sons’ way into prestigious universities. The disgraced businessman apologized and said he was “deeply ashamed.”
He was handed 90 days in prison, minus credit for the four days he spent in jail following his arrest, as well as a US$250,000 fine. He is set to be incarcerated on Sept. 23.
–with files from Jon Azpiri
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