Jennifer Millman

Ex-Community College Basketball Coach Admits Forging Transcripts to Get Players Into 4-Year Schools

What to Know

  • Between 2013 and 2014, Tyrone Mushatt admitted to getting doctored transcripts to four four-year institutions, authorities say
  • Prosecutors say there is no evidence the schools knew the transcripts were fraudulent
  • Mushatt had faced up to seven years in state prison but was promised a probationary sentence in exchange for the guilty plea

A former head basketball coach at Westchester Community College has pleaded guilty to forgery- and conspiracy-related charges for doctoring a player's transcript to get him into St. John's University, prosecutors said Tuesday. 

Tyrone Mushatt, 44, also admitted conspiring to give forged Westchester Community College transcripts of six basketball players to four colleges and universities in order to facilitate their transfer to the four-year schools between 2013 and 2014, prosecutors said. 

Those institutions include St. John’s University, Quinnipiac University, Concordia College and Florida A&M University, officials say. According to prosecutors, there is no evidence to suggest any of the schools knew the transcripts were fraudulent. 

The fraud came to light when the New York State Office of the Inspector General, the State University of New York Chancellor’s Office and the National Junior College Athletic Association all received information about the scheme. The U.S. Department of Education also assisted. 

Mushatt was arrested in October 2015. He had faced up to seven years in state prison but was promised a probationary sentence in exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors said. 

All the named schools cooperated in the investigation, officials said.

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