The owner of a small, private Charlotte school was sentenced to 18 months in prison Tuesday for her part in a scheme that falsely enrolled foreign teens who were sought by basketball recruiters and coaches.
Evelyn Mack, 65, pleaded guilty in July 2018 to federal charges that she used her position as principal at her school, Evelyn Mack Academy on Monroe Road, to file paperwork that allowed the foreign students to obtain visas. She was sentenced Tuesday for charges that included conspiracy to harbor non-citizens, U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced.
Court documents say Mack was paid $1,000 per student, for about 75 students, for her part in the scheme: She filed paperwork that allowed foreign students to obtain F-1 student visas and said they were enrolled at Evelyn Mack Academy – when the majority were actually recruited as athletes by co-conspirators and enrolled at schools that did not qualify for the student-visa program, court records said.
None of the co-conspirators have been named.
As part of Mack’s sentence, she must also serve one year of court supervision when she is released from prison. Her federal sentence is served without the possibility of parole.
