Wed Jan 4 2023
BOSTON—William “Rick” Singer, the mastermind behind a nationwide college-admissions cheating scheme that ensnared top universities, business executives and Hollywood celebrities, is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court here Wednesday.
Mr. Singer pleaded guilty in March 2019 to four felonies, admitting to running a complex operation that arranged for parents to fraudulently boost their teens’ ACT and SAT scores and to bribe college coaches to flag the clients as recruited athletes, all but guaranteeing their admission to schools including Georgetown University and the University of Southern California. Payments were often funneled through Mr. Singer’s sham charity, allowing parents to take tax write-offs for the bribes.
Though he was at the head of a conspiracy that prosecutors say brought in $25 million and corrupted an admissions process that was intended to be based on merit, Mr. Singer also served as a key cooperator in the federal case. The probe, deemed Operation Varsity Blues by investigators, started with a tip from an investor involved in a stock-fraud scheme and ultimately led to criminal charges against 57 individuals.
Most of those charged pleaded guilty, with sentences ranging from probation to 2½ years in prison. All but one person who took their cases to trial were found guilty; one parent also was pardoned by former President Donald Trump and one coach entered a deferred prosecution agreement.
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