I think defense attorneys have a great angle with this one, as far as the parents are concerned.

They can use the "College admissions have always been a joke" defense, basically pointing out that it's common knowledge that people get into college all the time via nepotism, athletic ability (without academic qualification), donations to the school, etc.

Parents can use the defense of, "We thought that was the system in place, and we thought we were basically doing the same thing as the guy who donates $1 million to the school to partially fund a new building, and then his daughter gets in,"

I think enough reasonable doubt can be created, and it can be cast that the parents were simply manipulating within an already broken system, and weren't even aware they were committing crimes.

I'd almost buy that explanation myself.