A former Harvard fencing coach was acquitted Wednesday of charges that he accepted more than $1.5 million in bribes in exchange for designating a wealthy businessman's two sons as recruits to help secure their admission to the elite university.
Jurors found Peter Brand not guilty of conspiracy and bribery charges more than three years after a newspaper reported that Brand sold his run-down home for an inflated price to the businessman, Jie “Jack” Zhao. Zhao, of Potomac, Maryland, who was also acquitted of the same charges.
