Mastermind behind 'Varsity Blues' college admissions scandal to be sentenced

Jan. 4 (UPI) -- The man who pleaded guilty to engineering a college bribery scheme that helped the children of wealthy parents cheat their way into prestigious schools across the country will be sentenced Wednesday in Boston federal court.

Rick Singer -- a former college counselor and admitted architect of a scam that became known as "Varsity Blues" -- faces up to six years behind bars following the convictions of more than 50 others involved, including Hollywood celebrities and many well-known business personalities.

The sentencing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

For more than a decade Singer took advantage of the college selection process, doctoring scores on entrance exams and drawing up phony athletic credentials that tricked some of the nation's most elite universities into admitting less-than-deserving students.

Singer reportedly raked in $25 million off the scheme while doling out more than $7 million in bribes, but lining his own pockets with the rest.

The scandal exposed major flaws in college admissions that are widely viewed as more accommodating to privileged kids than those who earn their way through merit.

The investigation found that Singer infiltrated the college entrance exam process by paying testing administrators bribes in exchange for inflating student scores.

Singer was first linked to the conspiracy through a separate investigation into securities fraud, which led to a Yale soccer coach who was privy to the scheme.

Confronted by authorities with a mountain of evidence, Singer chose to cooperate, and soon federal investigators were listening as the 62-year-old held backdoor meetings and phone calls that ultimately incriminated dozens of conspirators.

The scandal made front page news in 2019 with the high-profile arrests of many prominent Americans, including actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, UCLA head soccer coach Jorge Salcedo, and Michelle Janavs, an heiress to the Hot Pockets franchise.

Because he helped authorities, Singer has remained free while awaiting his own sentence, but managed to keep a low profile as he was never called to testify against any of his former clients.

He also sold his five-bedroom mansion and moved into a trailer home in the years since the scandal first came to light.

Reports say Singer will have an opportunity to address the court before the judge hands down the sentence. His lawyer, Candice Fields, has asked for a much lighter sentence than what prosecutors were seeking, calling for a term of no more than six months in prison if he was to serve any time at all. Fields also proffered a sentence of three years of probation with 12 months of home detention.

"If incarceration is deemed necessary, a six-month sentence, followed by a three-year term of supervised release that includes community service, will satisfy the purposes of sentencing," Fields wrote in a filing to the court.

If Singer draws the full six-year sentence, it would be the longest handed down so far to any defendant in the case. Former Georgetown University tennis coach Gordon Ernst was ordered to serve 2.5 years in prison for accepting more than $3 million in bribes from Singer.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are seeking more than $10 million in restitution from Singer, which will be paid to the Internal Revenue Service. As part of the penalty, Singer would also forfeit about $3 million in cash and assets.

"He was the architect and mastermind of a criminal enterprise that massively corrupted the integrity of the college admissions process -- which already favors those with wealth and privilege -- to a degree never before seen in this country," prosecutors wrote in court papers.

In a Dec. 29 letter to the court, Singer gave an excuse for his crimes -- which included racketeering conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy -- while also saying he had achieved "the opportunity for insight, atonement, and redemption."

"For most of my life, if not all of it, I have thrived on winning at all costs," he wrote. "My moral compass was broken and, increasingly over time, choosing right over wrong became less important than doing whatever had to be done to be recognized as the 'best.'"