The alleged "mastermind" behind the 2019 Varsity Blues college scam is expected to be sentenced on Wednesday and faces six years in prison, according to reports.
The Varsity Blues scheme was an elaborate college admissions cheating scandal that involved celebrities, actors and prestigious universities in America. It allowed wealthy parents to pay for their children to cheat their way into top universities through bribes.
Prosecutors want William "Rick" Singer, the college admissions architect, to serve six years in prison and pay almost $20 million in fines and asset forfeitures, according to a CNN report.
In March 2019, Singer pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, money laundering conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
Speaking about the upcoming sentencing of Singer, NewsNations' Dan Abrams reflected on the case on his show on Tuesday.
He said: "[Singer's] attorneys argue that his cooperation with prosecutors should lead to a lighter sentence then some of the parents who were convicted in participating in this scheme that he [allegedly] masterminded.
"Singer's attorneys are asking he only serve six months at the most [or 1 year home confinement]. Prosecutors are asking for six years.
"Singer is citing unspecified childhood trauma and says he has taken responsibility for what he did and maybe so but so did a lot of the parents that pleaded guilty and went to jail."
Abrams also dismissed some of the defense that the parents used ahead of their cases, and continued to argue that Singer was aware it was wrong and illegal.
"Several parents including [actress] Lori Loughlin claimed in their initial defense that Singer, who had become a government informant during the investigation, tricked them into participating.
"[He did this] by encouraging donations that they didn't realise were bribes, the so-called back door, he assured them that it was legal.
"The problem is that of course it became clear it was wrong when Singer asked parents to send anything from money to college coaches for sports their kids were not involved in, the phoney pictures of the kids playing the sport that was being paid off.
"Both Loughlin and her husband pled guilty to fraud and others have said Singer actively recruited them for his scheme, even cold-calling some.
"A Chinese executive and his wife, who prosecutors say, gave Singer $6.5 million
to get their daughter into Stanford, later claimed Singer scammed them into believing it was a donation.
"All of those may have been convenient defenses but it is clear Singer preyed on parents who wanted to help their kids and had the means to do it."
Prosecutors are asking the court to pay the IRS more than $10.6 million in restitution, a $3.4 million monetary forfeiture as well as to forfeit assets valued at more than $5.3 million.
Uncommon Knowledge
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About the writer
Gerrard Kaonga is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter and is based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on U.S. ... Read more
