A former athletic official at the University of Southern California pleaded guilty Friday to participating in the nationwide college admissions scandal, in which wealthy parents paid bribes to get their children into top universities as phony sports recruits.

Donna Heinel, an ex-senior associate athletic director at USC, admitted to honest services wire fraud in a remote hearing before U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani of the District of Massachusetts. Prosecutors said the scheme's mastermind, consultant Rick Singer, paid Heinel bribes to facilitate the admission of applicants to the university using false athletic profiles.