Jeff Bizzack, an executive Slater describes as his “partner in everything he has undertaken in recent years, pleaded guilty to paying bribes to get his son into college, and prosecutors asked that he serve nine months in prison, one year on probation and pay $75.000 bail, the American website reported. The Inertia.

Bizzack paid $250.000 to Rick Singer, the mastermind behind one of the largest college frauds in history, to alter documents indicating that his son had played volleyball in order to gain admission to the University of South Carolina.

The executive said he regretted what he had done and clarified that his son knew nothing of what was happening.

Some of the ventures he worked on alongside Slater included the development of the Kelly Slater Wave Company and Slater's own label, Outerknown.

Slater had told Viva Magazine a few years ago: “(Bizzack) has worked with me on a number of projects, he is a huge influence, personally and professionally.”