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BREAKING NEWS: Varsity Blues mastermind Rick Singer is sentenced to three and a half years in prison after reaching a deal with the government to snitch on stars like Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin
- Rick Singer was sentenced today in Boston, four years after the scandal
- He took bribes from desperate parents to secure their children’s admission to the best schools.
- Admitted to organized crime in 2018 and agreed to cooperate with the government
- Singer, 62, was facing 20 years but now prosecutors recommend 6
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Rick Singer, the mastermind behind the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal, has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
Singer was the leader of the scam, which was exposed four years ago and accused Hollywood stars such as Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.
He immediately pleaded guilty to charges including obstruction of justice and conspiracy to commit money laundering, offenses that can carry sentences of up to 20 years.
Singer, now living modestly in a Florida trailer park, has agreed to cooperate with the government’s investigation into the wealthy parents who used his services. Prosecutors had asked for a six-year sentence.
His sentence is considerably harsher than any other defendant in the scandal. Most of the parents have been sentenced to less than a year.
Rick Singer arrives at court in Boston on Wednesday, January 4 for sentencing. Prosecutors recommend six years in prison
His lawyers pleaded for leniency and asked the judge to give him a sentence of probation only.
The scam involved Singer accepting bribes of up to $500,000 from desperate parents who wanted their children to get into some of the best schools in the country.
Through her contacts at universities like USC and at SAT testing centers and boards, she got kids involved.
Some, like Loughlin’s two daughters, claimed to be star athletes in sports they hadn’t even tried. Singer vouched for them on his requests.
Others weren’t even aware of their parents’ involvement in their college admissions: They would take their SATs at places where the test administrator or proctor was on Singer’s payroll.
Once they had completed their answers, the proctor would change them to make sure they were correct.
The singer ignored reporters as he entered court in Boston on Wednesday to be sentenced.
Among the parents who used Singer’s services was Felicity Huffman, pictured above with her husband and two daughters. She served 14 days in prison.
Lori Loughlin also used Singer to bribe her daughters at USC. She served two months in prison.
In a letter to the judge before sentencing, Singer blamed his actions on his “win at all costs” attitude, which he said was caused in part by repressed childhood trauma.
His lawyer requests three years of probation or, if the judge deems it necessary, six months behind bars.
“By ignoring what was morally, ethically, and legally correct in favor of winning what I perceived to be the college admissions “game,” I lost everything,” he wrote.
He told the court that he felt ‘ashamed’ of his actions and his ‘poor judgment’.
I have been reflecting on my very poor judgment and criminal activities that have become more and more my way of life.
“I have woken up every day feeling shame, remorse and regret. I recognize that I am fully responsible for my crimes,’ she said.
For years, Singer paid entrance exam administrators or proctors to inflate students’ test scores and bribed coaches to appoint applicants as recruits to sports they sometimes didn’t even play, seeking to increase their chances of getting into school. Singer received more than $25 million from her clients, paid bribes totaling more than $7 million and used more than $15 million of her clients’ money for her own gain, according to prosecutors.
“He was the architect and mastermind of a criminal enterprise that massively corrupted the integrity of the college admissions process, which already favors the wealthy and privileged, to a degree never before seen in this country,” prosecutors wrote in documents. judicial.