Felicity Huffman leaves the federal courthouse with her husband William H. Macy after being sentenced in connection with a nationwide college admissions cheating scheme. Picture: Reuters/Katherine Taylor

Boston — One father conspired to pay bribes to get two children admitted to the University of Southern California — one as a recruit in soccer, the other in football. A couple plotted to cheat on college entrance exams for their two daughters. A mother worried that her daughter might figure out that she was trying to get her a fake ACT score, saying, on a call that turned out to be recorded by authorities, “She already thinks I’m up to, like, no good.”

Four parents — including the former head of one of the world’s biggest asset managers and an heir to a fortune created by microwaveable snacks — pleaded guilty Monday in the nation’s largest college admissions prosecution. With trials drawing closer and prosecutors warning of new charges, the four were part of a new wave of parents pleading guilty to using lies and bribery to secure their children’s admission to elite colleges.

Among them was Douglas Hodge, a former chief executive of Pimco and one of the most prominent business executives caught up in the scandal. He admitted that he conspired to pay more than $500 000 in bribes to get two of his children admitted to USC as athletic recruits.

“I accept full and complete responsibility for my conduct,” Hodge said in a statement. “I have always prided myself on leading by example, and I am ashamed of the decisions I made. I acted out of love for my children, but I know that this explanation for my actions is not an excuse.”

The other parents who pleaded guilty Monday were Manuel Henriquez, the founder and former chief executive of Hercules Capital, a financial firm in Palo Alto, California; his wife, Elizabeth; and Michelle Janavs, of Newport Coast, California, whose father and uncle invented Hot Pockets.