Massachusetts
Massachusetts man cleared in college admissions scandal sues Netflix
BOSTON – It is the latest chapter in a near five-year journey for the only Massachusetts man named in the so-called College Admissions Scandal.
Earlier this week, John Wilson filed a civil lawsuit against Netflix for their depiction of him and his family in their documentary on the case, “Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal.”
“They called their production a documentary,” said Wilson. “Which I always assumed means it’s truthful and what they did as it relates to me and my family, was anything but the truth.”
Federal prosecutors alleged parents paid into a scheme that granted their children access to top colleges in the country. Often by adding a child’s name to the roster of elite sports programs despite never having played the sport.
Wilson was originally charged with multiple federal counts for his alleged involvement in the scheme but maintained his innocence through the trial and never accepted a plea deal. In 2023, a federal appeals court dropped most of those convictions. He is serving a year of probation for a tax related charge over a filing error. In all, Wilson said he’s spent roughly $10 million on legal fees.
“It’s been a devastating experience since day one,” said Wilson. “From the moment I was arrested it was horrific and then having to go to trial for a crime I didn’t commit.”
In his civil suit, Wilson accuses Netflix of defaming him and his son by knowingly manipulating his words and involvement in the admissions scandal. This includes, according to Wilson, things the U.S. Attorney’s Office never accused him of in the first place.
“We didn’t cheat on any tests or pay anyone to cheat on any tests,” said Wilson. “We didn’t bribe any coaches. We gave money to school foundations, not to coaches or individuals. And we didn’t fake any athletes.”
But one scene in the documentary stands out for Wilson. It involves a critical part of the prosecution’s case where they claimed some families had their children photoshopped to look like athletes for sports they had never played. In the documentary, Netflix uses Wilson’s voice under a montage depicting a staged photoshoot with his son Johnny. Wilson said the trouble is, his son was a D1 level athlete with thousands of hours of training and competitions under his belt before he ever stepped on a team at USC. Wilson said the idea they falsified photos of their son to get him on a team and into school is defamatory and a pillar of his suit.
“We warned them (Netflix) in advance off all the facts that were in the public record about my son,” Wilson said. “The thing I feel most pained by is that he trained for thousands of hours over a decade, and he had literally since the age of six competed.”
Wilson said he is seeking monetary damages, a public apology from Netflix and for the company to correct the film.
“I think more than anything, I think it’s important to set the record straight for others because what they did to me should never happen to anyone in America,” Wilson said. “It’s just outrageous.”
WBZ-TV reached out to Netflix for this report and has not heard back.
BOSTON (WWLP) – The Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) announced Wednesday that it is distributing 5,063 internet-enabled devices to 45 organizations across the state.
The statewide effort, administered through the Connected and Online program, aims to expand economic opportunity by increasing digital access. This program is a $31.6 million initiative funded through the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund that provides Massachusetts-based organizations with laptops, tablets, and desktop computers to help residents access the internet.
Equipment provided through the program also includes supportive items, such as braille keyboards, intended to assist vulnerable populations.
Both Gateway Cities and rural communities are supported by the Connected and Online program, as residents are provided with direct access to devices through lending programs or resources at publicly accessible locations.
“The Connected and Online program opens doors for communities to access critical services and build relationships with their neighbors,” said Governor Maura Healey. “By partnering with trusted local organizations, we’re helping more people get online, access essential services, and connect to new educational and economic opportunities.”
To date, the program has provided nearly 32,000 devices and more than 13,000 pieces of supportive equipment. These devices have been distributed to hospitals, municipalities, nonprofits, public libraries, elder and youth aid groups, and workforce training organizations across the Commonwealth.
This latest award announcement follows a prior distribution launched by MBI on April 2, which included nearly 27,000 devices to over 200 organizations across the state.
“MBI is leveraging strong relationships with local and regional organizations to deliver digital devices for Massachusetts residents,” said MBI Program Executive Jody Jones. “The Connected and Online program is a statewide effort to expand access, increase digital skills training, and, at its core, expand the ability to connect to the internet.”
For a full list of awardees, visit broadband.mass.tech.org.
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All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by WWLP. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by WWLP staff before being published.
If you want to help people in poverty, don’t drive the wealthy out of state.
That might be something the state senators in the Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities should keep in mind after they advanced a sweeping bill going full bore at reducing the state’s poverty rate.
Sen. Sal DiDomenico told the State House News his proposal (S 3095) “is a compilation of many bills that have already been filed.” According to his office, the bill, as originally filed, included provisions that would increase the Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children cash benefits for pregnant people, families and caregivers; increase Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children cash benefits; codify related benefits and allowances; and bar the government from taking any amount of child support payments from low-income parents.
His office also said the bill would direct the state to replace Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cash benefits “stolen by criminal rings through skimming or phishing”; ensure access to free menstrual products in public schools, homeless shelters, prisons and county jails; raise farmworker wages to at least the state’s minimum wage; establish a “baby bonds program”; and “enhance” the attorney general’s ability to “ensure companies pay their employees the wages they deserve and hold employers accountable when they steal workers’ wages.”
It’s a tall order, and an impressive one. But the hurdle isn’t just getting it on the Senate’s agenda before the July 31 deadline, it’s how to pay for it.
The idea of front-loading assistance appears sound: helping people escape poverty means they won’t need to rely on social services down the line. But it will still take a sustainable revenue source to keep it all going.
And Massachusetts has been shooting itself in the foot when it comes to keeping revenue inside state borders.
According to Moneywise, Massachusetts millionaires took $4.2 billion in income out of the state in 2023, new Internal Revenue Service data revealed.
As reported by Bloomberg, that’s an 8% increase from the year before, and it comes just as the state began enforcing a new 4% surtax on incomes above $1 million. Higher-income households are now accounting for a larger share of total departures from the state. In 2023, top earners accounted for roughly 70% of total income outflow. That doubles their share from just a few years earlier.
We need to keep them, and their tax payments, here.
But that won’t happen if efforts to lower taxes are met with derision, and the notion that tax breaks only benefit the very rich. The deep-pocketed set that’s heading to tax-friendlier states are gifting their new home turf with a cumulative windfall, even if the individual tax amount is lower than the Bay State.
The same goes for companies who see better opportunities elsewhere.
The senators working on anti-poverty measures have some great ideas, and they should have a budget to implement them. Lifting people up from poverty uplifts the state.
But we can’t pay the bill if we keep driving out high-earning taxpayers. To help the poor, we must keep the rich.
Trombetta’s Farm, at 655 Farm Rd., is listed as a Central Massachusetts stop on the Massachusetts Ice Cream Trail, a state-backed guide launched in 2024 to promote ice cream shops, farm stands, and dairy farms that use Massachusetts dairy products, according to GBH.
The trail features more than 100 destinations across Massachusetts and is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. The map includes dairy farms with ice cream stands, farms selling packaged ice cream, and shops selling Massachusetts ice cream products, according to the tourism office.
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