Woman at center of foreign student-athlete scandal appears in court

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Evelyn Mack once ran a private school in Charlotte but on Thursday she found herself in U.S. District Court facing federal conspiracy charges related to America's foreign student visa program.

[Charlotte school leader allegedly hid foreign students from Homeland Security]

Her arraignment before Judge David C. Kessler only lasted a few minutes.

Mack waived a reading of her indictment and her attorney James Exum entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf while requesting a trial by jury.

Prosecutors allege that Mack "falsely represented that approximately 75 aliens were full-time students" at the Evelyn Mack Academy, according to court papers.

Mack is accused of taking in more than $75,000 in enrollment fees plus other benefits and conspiring to conceal, harbor and shield the foreign students from detection.

The indictment supports previous investigative report by Channel 9 that found the foreign students arrived in America but then disappeared from Charlotte with various basketball coaches and recruiters. They did not attend Evelyn Mack Academy.

Mack's case has also been linked to a broader human trafficking investigation.

Neither Mack nor her attorney would comment when pressed by investigative reporter Paul Boyd outside federal court.

Channel 9 has reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ask what changes have been implemented within the foreign student program in recent years. An ICE spokesperson said there is a multipronged approach to ensuring that schools are complying with U.S. laws and regulations governing international students.

ICE says there is a compliance unit that conducts site visits plus a re-certification process for those schools every few years.

The agency that operates under the Department of Homeland Security also said that 58 field representatives were also recently deployed across the country to function as a "friendly face of law enforcement" and take a "proactive" approach to compliance.

New digital risk assessment tools have also been implemented to ensure better compliance within the visa program Mack is accused of exploiting.

Mack is next due in court at the end of May.

Cox Media Group