More guilty pleas in college scam case
Two parents who hired college admissions consultant William “Rick” Singer to help their children cheat their way into college are the latest to plead guilty.
Gordon Caplan and Agustin Huneeus Jr. pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Both appeared in Boston federal court.
Caplan was co-chairman of the prominent law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher. The Greenwich, Conn., resident was charged with paying $75,000 to Singer to get someone to correct the answers on his daughter’s ACT exam after she took it.
Huneeus’ family owns vineyards in California’s Napa Valley and in Oregon. Authorities say he agreed to pay Singer $300,000 to rig his daughter’s SAT score and have her designated as a water polo recruit to the University of Southern California.
They are among 14 parents who have agreed to plead guilty. Actress Felicity Huffman pleaded guilty last week.
Singer, 58, has pleaded guilty to charges of fraud, racketeering, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
The self-described “master coach” is the mastermind of the college admissions scandal, prosecutors say.
He warned parents that in the scramble for a spot at an elite university, their children would hardly stand out without his help. He spoke of a “side door” to top schools he could wrench open to the “wealthiest families in the U.S.” He promised their children nothing short of “a life of success.”
Singer was paid $25 million by parents who, believing their children lacked the grades and test scores to get into elite universities, turned to the reputed college admissions guru who bragged of helping shuttle more than 700 students a year into top schools through “the side door,” according to prosecutors.