The Family of a Qualified Student-Athlete Alleges USC Lied to Induce Six-Figure Donations That Resulted in an Unwarranted Federal Prosecution
LOS ANGELES, March 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — John B. Wilson and Leslie Q. Wilson have asked the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District (Case No. B349831), to reverse a trial-court dismissal that blocked their fraud case against the University of Southern California (USC) before any discovery could begin. The Wilsons say USC officials misled them about a donor “preference” in athletic admissions, which set off a chain of events that ended with John Wilson being charged in the federal “Varsity Blues” case. The appeal argues that USC now seeks to avoid accountability with a statute of limitations argument that lacks legal merit.
According to the Wilsons’ appellate filings, the events began during a USC campus visit in 2013, when USC’s water polo coach and a senior athletics administrator told the family that a significant donation would help their son’s application as a non-scholarship, walk-on water polo player. Based on those statements, the Wilsons say they made $220,000 in donations in 2014. Their son was admitted to USC and invited to join the water polo program. He participated on the team for the entire season and post-season of his freshman year and his certified swim times proved that he was one of the fastest players on the 2014 team. USC has kept the Wilsons’ money to this day despite later claiming in court that their policy did not allow for donations to be considered in admission decisions.
The Wilsons say USC’s actions led them to be swept up in the infamous Varsity Blues prosecution in March 2019, even though their son was a real Division I level athlete with strong academics, and their donations went to official USC accounts and IRS certified charities. John Wilson spent five years fighting federal charges and was later vindicated on appeal, but the case still caused the family enormous harm, the filings say. The Wilsons contend that the prosecution would never have happened if USC had not lied to them about its own admissions process to induce a donation.
A central issue in the appeal is when the Wilsons could reasonably have learned the truth about USC’s alleged fraud. Under California’s “discovery rule,” the clock does not start when harm happens if key facts stay hidden. The Wilsons say they did not and could not learn of USC’s alleged deception until Sept. 21, 2021, when USC admissions officer Rebecca Chassin testified that the Athletics Subcommittee on Admissions—a small group that reviews athlete cases—considers athletic skill only, not family donations, for walk-on admissions.
The lawsuit was filed on Sept. 20, 2024, in Los Angeles Superior Court (Case No. 24STCV24447), within three years of that testimony, the Wilsons argue. USC does not dispute that the complaint states a valid fraud claim the appeal notes, but USC argues the case is time-barred. The trial court dismissed the case at the demurrer stage, which is a request to throw a case out before evidence and witness testimony, and entered final judgment on Aug. 22, 2025.
The Wilsons’ appeal brief argues that the trial court erred by concluding that the 2019 indictment provided notice of USC’s alleged fraud as a matter of law, and by skipping the second step of the discovery-rule analysis altogether. California courts require a two-part look: first, whether a person had reason to investigate, and second, whether a reasonable investigation would have uncovered the fraud, the Wilsons argue. “The Wilsons’ complaint alleges that USC’s athletics leaders told the Wilsons a team donation was proper and would help in walk-on admissions,” said Steven A. Engel, Dechert LLP. “USC kept the money, then tried to shut the courthouse doors before the Wilsons could get the records that show what USC knew and when USC knew it.”
The appeal also argues the demurrer ruling let USC avoid document production that could confirm how USC handled donor-linked athletic admissions and what USC officials told families. “USC wants to win based on an incorrect deadline without turning over the files,” said William Charles Tanenbaum, Law Offices of William Charles Tanenbaum. “The Wilsons allege that they were misled by USC and then left to face the fallout alone. USC points to the Varsity Blues headlines to improperly smear the Wilsons with the bad acts of others.”
The Wilsons are asking the Court of Appeal to reverse the dismissal and send the case back so it can proceed with discovery and evidence gathering. “As the Wilsons’ brief argues in detail, this case should not have been dismissed at this stage,” said Jay Bhimani, Dechert LLP. “The Wilsons want a fair chance to prove USC’s role in the events that upended their lives.”
More on the Wilson’s ordeal is available at scandalwithinthescandal.com.
About Counsel for the Wilsons
The Wilsons are represented on appeal by Dechert LLP (Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles) and the Law Offices of William Charles Tanenbaum (Beverly Hills, California). Counsel represents John B. Wilson and Leslie Q. Wilson in their appeal seeking to reinstate their civil fraud claims and obtain access to relevant USC records through the court process.
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SOURCE Law Offices of William Charles Tanenbaum, Esq
