David Sidoo

Sidoo is of Indian-Canadian descent and grew up in New Westminster, B.C., the son of a sawmill-working immigrant father from Punjab in northern India and a stay-at-home mother.[7] From 1978-1982, he attended the University of British Columbia on a football scholarship. At UBC, he played for the school's team, the Thunderbirds.[8]

After graduating university, Sidoo was drafted into the Canadian Football League, becoming the first Indian-Canadian to have been by a CFL.team.[9] He played professional football in the CFL.for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and BC Lions from 1983 to 1988.[10]

After retiring from football, Sidoo started working in the field of brokerage. Sidoo later was one of the founding members who sold an energy company, American Oil & Gas, to the Hess Corporation.[8] At the start of 2019, Sidoo was the CEO of Advantage Lithium, a mining company.[8]

In March 2019, Sidoo was named as one of the alleged parent perpetrators of the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal. Multiple sources reported on allegations Sidoo had paid money to illegally aid his two sons in getting accepted into American colleges.[13][14]

As alleged in the FBI indictment, Sidoo paid $100,000 to have a test-taker impersonate his older son, so that the latter's SAT test scores were improved.[15] The scores were sent to Chapman University, which his son later attended.[16] According to the FBI, Sidoo paid an additional $100,000 to have his younger son's test taken in the same, fraudulent way.[13][16] CBC News later reported that Sidoo had also paid a test-taker to fake a high school exam on behalf of his son in 2012.[13] The affected scores were sent to Yale, Georgetown and the University of California, Berkeley, the latter of which his younger son eventually attended.[16] The FBI indictment noted that Sidoo had been in contact with other perpetrators of the college admission scandal in 2018, and in October of that year recorded a phone call in which Sidoo discussed obtaining a GMAT score for his older son, who intended to apply to business school.[17][18]

Sidoo pleaded not guilty before a federal court in Massachusetts on 15 March 2019.[13] In light of the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal, Sidoo stepped down as the CEO of Advantage Lithium, East West Petroleum, and Seaway Energy Services. Sidoo also resigned as a director of American Helium, Meridius Resources Ltd., Liberty Defense Holdings Ltd., and National Green Biomed Ltd. in mid-March 2019.[19][2]

Sidoo pleaded guilty[20] to fraud in the aforementioned matter on March 13, 2020. The sentencing took place on July 15, 2020, and he was sentenced to 90 days in prison, one year supervised release and a $250,000 fine.[4] Sidoo will spend the first 14 days in solitary confinement under pandemic quarantine procedures.[21]

Sidoo asked that his name be removed from the University of British Columbia football field.[22] Sidoo's appointment to the Order of British Columbia in 2016[23] was rescinded on June 12, 2020.[24] Sidoo is the first person to be stripped of the Order.[25] Sidoo withdrew as a member of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame on July 31, 2020. [26]

Sidoo reported to SeaTac Federal Dentention Center on September 23, 2020.[2] He was given BOP Number 25452-111 and released on December 17, 2020.[27] Sidoo is inadmissible to the United States as a result of the felony conviction.[28]