A Napa Valley winemaker convicted in the widespread college admissions scandal got sprung from prison early due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report Monday.
US District Judge Indira Talwani approved Agustin Huneeus Jr.’s plea for early release last week, citing the burgeoning virus outbreak and the vintner’s “unique health circumstances,” The Los Angeles Times reported.
Huneeus, 54, was discharged on March 17, two weeks before the end of his five-month prison term for agreeing to pay $300,000 to bribe his daughter’s way into the University of Southern California.
But another parent convicted in the “Varsity Blues” operation, Los Angeles businessman Devin Sloane, had asked the judge for similar relief and was denied.
The dad had failed to show he’d appealed to the warden at his prison in Lompoc and exhausted all administrative means of an early release — nor had he shown a “life-threatening condition” that would allow him to go straight to the courts, Talwani ruled.
The motions of both Huneeus and Sloane were sealed to protect details about their health.
Huneeus was released to home confinement. Sloane’s four-month sentence ends April 1.
