Almost four years ago, it seemed like the world stood still as “Operation Varsity Blues” was the biggest story in the country. That was the college admissions cheating scandal story that broke, where 60 people were arrested, including celebrities Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman.
The mastermind of the operation was a guy named Rick Singer. He had paid off athletic department administrators and coaches on lower-profile teams at glamorous universities to help get kids accepted into universities like Yale, Stanford, and USC.
Once the feds were on to his scam, he quickly turned and agreed to set up the parents, who were eventually arrested after Singer initiated taped phone conversations with them and led them into making incriminating statements while the FBI was listening.
Now it’s finally judgment day for Singer. He took a plea and aided in the investigation; now it is time for his sentencing.
Singer’s attorneys say their client deserves no more than six months in prison, which seems like less than a slap on the wrist for the chaos he caused. They argued in court filings that he should get three years probation and 12 months of home detention on top of the half year.
Prosecutors are pushing for something meatier; six years in prison and restitution to the IRS of over $10 million. He’s also been able to hang on to millions of dollars in cash and assets, and the feds want $8 million back.
Here’s a quote from the justice department that seems to hint Singer wasn’t quite as helpful as they would have liked.
“His corruption and manipulation of others were practically limitless. Singer is far and away the most culpable of the Varsity Blues defendants — by orders of magnitude — and is therefore deserving of the longest sentence, notwithstanding his cooperation with the government’s investigation, which as discussed below, was exceptionally valuable and, at the same time, plagued by missteps.”
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