Woman ran school as front for foreign athletes to avoid ICE

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A North Carolina woman has pleaded guilty to falsely enrolling foreign teens sought by basketball recruiters and coaches in her small private school.

WSOC-TV reports that Evelyn Mack faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty Monday to a felony charge of concealing, harbouring or shielding unlawful aliens. A federal indictment says she took about $1,000 per student from recruiters to falsely represent around 75 teens as students in Evelyn Mack Academy.

The Charlotte Observer reports that the school, which she’s run since 2000, was authorized to enrol high school students under F1 visas. The indictment says she entered false information into the Department of Homeland Security system to avoid detection by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Court records show Mack turned herself in March 2.

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Information from: The Charlotte Observer, http://www.charlotteobserver.com