More Trouble for U.S.C. and U.C.L.A. in the College Admissions Scandal

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Although the California connections run deep throughout the sprawling college admissions scandal, the complex federal case is now playing out in Boston.

My colleague, Kate Taylor, has been covering the court proceedings. Here, she reports on the latest:

In a coup for prosecutors and possible bad news for other defendants in the sweeping college admissions fraud investigation, one of the parents charged in the case, Davina Isackson of Hillsborough, Calif., has agreed to plead guilty and to cooperate with the government, according to a person with knowledge of the case.

Two other parents have said so far that they intend to plead guilty, and more will probably follow in the coming days. But Ms. Isackson’s agreement to cooperate is significant. Ms. Isackson and her husband, Bruce, a real estate developer, were accused of conspiring with William Singer, the college consultant at the center of the case, to bribe athletics officials in order to secure their daughters’ admission to U.C.L.A. and U.S.C. as athletic recruits.

Prosecutors also accused them of paying Mr. Singer so that a proctor could correct their younger daughter’s answers on her ACT exam. The prosecutors have said that the Isacksons paid Mr. Singer a total of $600,000.

[Catch up on all of The Times’s coverage here.]

Mr. Singer has pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges.

The agreement to cooperate means that Ms. Isackson will share what she knows about the roles that officials at U.C.L.A. and U.S.C. played in the scheme and, if their cases go to trial, could testify against them. It also puts pressure on other parents charged in the recruitment scheme; if Ms. Isackson testifies that she believes her actions were wrong, it makes it harder for others to say that they thought that they were simply making innocent donations.

One unusual aspect of the Isacksons’ case is that, according to the charging documents, their older daughter, Lauren, who was admitted to U.C.L.A. as a soccer recruit despite not being a top player, was required to participate on the team as a student-athlete for a year. She is listed on the 2017 roster as a midfielder. Most students involved in the case did not actually play on the teams they had been recruited for.

Prosecutors say that, after Lauren Isackson was provisionally admitted to U.C.L.A., Mr. Singer directed $100,000 to a sports marketing company controlled by Jorge Salcedo, the former head men’s soccer coach at U.C.L.A. The government has charged Mr. Salcedo with conspiracy to commit racketeering, and he has pleaded not guilty.

Davina Isackson could shed light on whether the coaches of the women’s soccer team were also in on the scheme. Amanda Cromwell, the head coach of women’s soccer at U.C.L.A. since 2013, did not respond to messages.

Both Davina and Bruce Isackson will plead guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, according to the person with knowledge of the case. Mr. Isackson will also plead guilty to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Here’s what you might have missed this weekend

(We often link to sites that limit access for nonsubscribers. We appreciate your reading Times stories, but we’d also encourage you to support local news if you can.)

• President Trump visited Calexico on Friday to continue to make his case that there’s a crisis on the border and that the country is full. [The New York Times]

• Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of Homeland Security, recently conceded that the president’s focus on the wall was, partly, a stunt. On Sunday, she resigned. [The New York Times]

• Meanwhile, migrants who fled their Central American home countries in hopes of getting asylum in the U.S. are waiting in Mexico under a newly expanded Trump administration policy. [The New York Times]

•Sheriff Alex Villanueva of Los Angeles County has reinstated at least six deputies who were previously let go, including one who was accused of assaulting a woman and lying about it. The rehires have drawn scrutiny to a sheriff who’s been on the job for just a few months. [The Los Angeles Times]

• Kimberly Sue Endicott, a tourist from California who was kidnapped with her safari guide in Uganda, has been freed. [The New York Times]

• TV writers and agents extended negotiations in a long-running dispute, staving off a potentially major disruption of the entertainment industry. Writers say that in the streaming era, agencies have made moves to enrich themselves at creators’ expense. [The New York Times]

In-depth reads

• “Every Democrat who wants to unseat President Trump now must figure out where they stand on the death penalty.” Thanks to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s move to stop executions in California, the debate about capital punishment has shifted. [The New York Times]

• The Times published a six-month investigation into the Murdoch family and its globe-spanning Fox media empire. Here are the top takeaways. [The New York Times]

More California stories

• Three blocks from Mark Zuckerberg’s $10 million Tudor lives Jake Orta, who makes a living picking through the Facebook founder’s trash. It’s yet another example of the wide divides that separate San Francisco’s residents. [The New York Times]

• A dormant debate has emerged over whether a 1,600-square-foot mural in a San Francisco high school is offensive or a historically relevant piece worth preserving. The Depression-era painting, “Life of Washington,” depicts the role of the nation’s first president in slavery and the deaths of American Indians during Westward Expansion. [The San Francisco Chronicle]

• A columnist argues that under Mayor Eric Garcetti’s leadership, Los Angeles’s economy is booming, beating out New York and Chicago according to an array of measures. [Bloomberg]

And Finally …

Coachella starts this weekend, which means Daniel Moon will probably be very busy over the next few days.

He’s the L.A.-based hair colorist who’s hand-painted the heads of celebrities like Kanye West, Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus neon and candy hues. Madonna once told him he made her feel like a Basquiat.

Mr. Moon got his start bleaching the hair of his wrestling teammates in high school as a way to make them stand out. Later, after a stint in the Marines that ended in 2001, he apprenticed at high-end salons.

Now, he has his own place.

Mr. Moon told The Times that he likes working with clients who are as open to getting out there as he is.

“Everybody is in a really good head space when I show up,” he said. “They’re like, ‘All right, dude, what you got?’”

California Today goes live at 6:30 a.m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: [email protected]. Were you forwarded this email? Sign up for California Today here.

Jill Cowan grew up in Orange County, went to school at U.C. Berkeley and has reported all over the state, including the Bay Area, Bakersfield and Los Angeles — but she always wants to see more. Follow along here or on Twitter, @jillcowan.

California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U.C. Berkeley.