“Kimmel entered into her plea agreement knowingly and voluntarily, after losing a battle to dismiss the indictment on many of the same grounds she now raises,” Judge Gorton wrote. “No miscarriage of justice will result from the rightful enforcement of the collateral attack waiver in Kimmel’s plea agreement.”
The judge further clarified that Kimmel had agreed with the government’s version of the facts, which included the argument that the admissions spots themselves were valuable assets or property of the universities, a theory unaffected by Ciminelli.
Kimmel’s attorney, Eóin Beirne of Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC, indicated that an appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals is forthcoming.
“We are disappointed with Judge Gorton’s ruling and will pursue an immediate appeal,” Beirne said.
The government’s legal team, which includes prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, had argued that Kimmel’s motion to vacate the plea was based on a distorted version of events, pointing out that she had pleaded guilty with the assistance of experienced counsel.
