William “Rick” Singer, the mastermind of the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal, has been sentenced to serve 42 months in prison.
Singer’s scheme saw more than 50 people convicted for their involvement in a plot to fake test scores and athletic achievements in order to get the children of wealthy celebrities, tech executives and entrepreneurs into elite schools like Yale, Stanford and USC. As the leader and facilitator of the scheme, Singer was the “most culpable participant“ and received the longest sentence, receiving a recommendation of six years in prison despite his cooperation with the investigation.
In addition to his time served in prison, he will have to forfeit millions in assets and pay more than $10 million in restitution to the IRS.
“He was the architect and mastermind of a criminal enterprise that massively corrupted the integrity of the college admissions process — which already favors those with wealth and privilege — to a degree never before seen in this country,” federal prosecutors said during the sentencing.
Throughout the trial, Singer was cooperative with the investigation, helping led prosecutors to both Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman. Loughlin spent two months in prison for paying $500,000 in bribes to get her daughters into college, while Huffman served 11 days in prison for paying $15,000 to get her daughter’s college entrance test answers corrected.
During his sentencing hearing in Boston, Singer admitted he was ashamed of what he had done.
“My moral compass was warped by the lessons my father taught me about competition,” he told WCVB-TV. “I embraced his belief that embellishing or even lying to win was acceptable as long as there was victory. I should have known better.”
“Rick recognizes that, by being caught, he has been given the opportunity for insight, atonement, and redemption,” his attorneys shared. “He has no wish to return to the life he led but does hope to earn an honest living helping others. Despite his current situation, Rick believes he can help and is grateful for every opportunity he is given to do so.”