Test taker sentenced in college admissions scandal

BOSTON — A former Florida prep school administrator who took students’ college entrance exams for bribes was sentenced to four months in prison.

The sentence for Mark Riddell was what U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rollins’ office had recommended to the judge in court filings ahead of Friday’s hearing.

Riddell’s lawyers, in their own filing, had argued for one to two months in prison, saying he was neither the ringleader of the scheme nor a university insider, like the coaches and college administrators implicated in the federal investigation known as Operation Varsity Blues.

In court, Riddell apologized to the students who lost out of college opportunities because of his “terrible decision.”

The Harvard graduate, who emerged as a key figure in the wide-ranging scandal, admitted to secretly taking the ACT and SAT in place of students, or correcting their answers.

Riddell, who had been cooperating with federal authorities in hopes of getting a lesser sentence, pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges in April 2019.

Riddell oversaw college entrance exam preparation at IMG Academy, a school in Bradenton, Fla., that bills itself as the world’s largest sports academy.

Authorities say the admissions consultant at the center of the scheme, Rick Singer, bribed test administrators to allow Riddell to pretend to proctor the exams for students so he could cheat on the tests. Singer typically paid Riddell $10,000 per test to rig the scores, prosecutors said.

Riddell, who was fired from IMG Academy, made more than $200,000 by cheating on over 25 exams, prosecutors said.

Nearly 60 people, including wealthy and famous parents as well as college coaches and athletic administrators were charged in the Operation Varsity Blues case, including “Full House” star Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband

Mossimo Giannulli.

The probe exposed the dirty underbelly of college admissions. Federal prosecutors said Singer was able to manipulate the preference given to recruited athletes for students who would otherwise not qualify. Prosecutors were careful to say, however, that the universities involved were the unknowing victims of the fraud.