Verdict was passed on accuseds for fraud in college admissions
2023.01.04 15:32
Verdict was passed on accuseds for fraud in college admissions
Budrigannews.com – On Wednesday, the creator of the largest college admissions fraud scheme ever discovered in the United States was given a sentence of three and a half years in prison for assisting wealthy parents to bribe and cheat their children into admission to prestigious universities.
U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel handed down a sentence in Boston for William “Rick” Singer, a former college admissions consultant who was an important cooperating witness in the “Operation Varsity Blues” investigation.
Although it fell short of the six years that prosecutors said were required for his unprecedented fraud, it was the longest sentence that any of the dozens of parents, dishonest coaches, and other individuals who were the subject of the investigation had received.
In 2019, Singer, 62, confessed to facilitating cheating on college entrance exams and transferring money from wealthy parents to dishonest university coaches in order to secure the admission of their children as fictitious athletic recruits.
Singer told the judge, “I lost my ethical values and have so much regret.” To tell you the truth, I’m ashamed of myself.”
Over fifty people, including actors Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, two of the many wealthy parents Singer had as clients, were found guilty during the scheme’s years-long investigation.
In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Frank stated, “It was a scheme that was breathtaking in scale and audacity.” It has literally become the subject of novels and movies made for television.
He acknowledged that the prosecution of dozens of Singer’s parents, coaches, and associates was made possible by Singer’s decision in 2018 to cooperate with their investigation and permit the FBI to record calls he made to clients.
But he also said that Singer’s cooperation was “problematic” because he also tried to stop it by telling six people to avoid incriminating themselves. Singer was not called by the prosecution for any trials.
Singer bribed coaches and administrators at Georgetown University, the University of Southern California, Yale University, and Stanford University with payments totaling more than $7 million.
Vocalist took in more than $25 million from his clients while running a California-based school confirmations guiding help called The Key and a connected cause.
In court papers, his attorneys argue that because he is “already serving a life sentence of sorts” after losing his assets, business, and the trust of friends and family, a non-prison sentence was justified for his cooperation.
“Ignoring what was morally, ethically, and legally right in favor of winning what I perceived was the college admissions ‘game,'” Singer wrote in a court filing last week, “lost everything.” He now lives in a trailer park in Florida.
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