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[rooster59]

'Smart guy' Florida test taker pleads guilty in U.S. college admissions scandal

By Nate Raymond

 

 

BOSTON (Reuters) - A former counsellor at a Florida private school pleaded guilty on Friday to secretly taking college placement tests for the children of wealthy parents as part of the largest admissions fraud scheme uncovered in U.S. history.

 

Mark Riddell, 36, was charged from a role in the scheme that prosecutors said allowed wealthy parents including the actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin to use cheating and bribes to help their children secure spots at universities like Yale, Georgetown and the University of Southern California.

 

Riddell pleaded guilty in Boston federal court to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, prosecutors said on Twitter. Asked at a news conference in March how Riddell knew the exam answers, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said he was "just a really smart guy."

 

Riddell is among 50 people who prosecutors say participated in schemes to cheat on entrance exams and pay $25 million in bribes over eight years, before a wave of arrests in last month's "Operation Varsity Blues."

 

California college admissions adviser William "Rick" Singer has pleaded guilty to facilitating the cheating scam and bribing coaches to present the parents' children as fake athletic recruits.

 

Prosecutors said that as part of the scheme, Singer arranged beginning in 2012 to have Riddell either secretly take SAT and ACT college entrance exams in place of his clients' children or correct their answers.

 

Singer admitted to advising his clients to seek extra time for their children to take the exams, including by claiming they had learning disabilities, and then have their children take the exams at two test centres he controlled.

 

He controlled those test centres, a Texas high school and a private college preparatory school in California, by bribing test administrators who would then allow Riddell to proctor the exams and carry out the cheating, prosecutors said.

 

Riddell, who worked at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, received $10,000 for each student's test, prosecutors said.

 

In exchange, Singer's clients paid him $15,000 and $75,000 per test by making donations to his charity, according to prosecutors. Many children were unaware their parents arranged for the cheating, prosecutors said.

 

The clients included Huffman, who paid to have Riddell in 2017 secretly correct her daughter's answers on the SAT, prosecutors said.

 

Huffman and 12 other parents agreed on Monday to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-04-13

[JimmyTheMook]

Wonder how it actually went down, testing centers now and recently have the student submit an image of themselves from an ID and it must be shown before letting them into the testing center.

This was the process for my kids taking the SAT and ACT exams.

[Tug]

How about some of the elite do the perp walk not some poor sob trying to survive

[lannarebirth]

There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of people doing what this man has been accused/convicted of. I hope they keep digging.

[robblok]

Shocking, people always condemn Thais for cheating seems cheating is alive in the US too (and probably other countries). But so far seen this only in the news in Thailand with tests and now in the US. 

 

Maybe more at stake.

[Chomper Higgot]

Liberal Redneck nails it:

 

 

[justin case]

where there is money to be made, power to be gained, there will be corruption

 

welcome to TIT, people finally learned something from TIT in the world

[Credo]

On 4/12/2019 at 7:23 PM, robblok said:

Shocking, people always condemn Thais for cheating seems cheating is alive in the US too (and probably other countries). But so far seen this only in the news in Thailand with tests and now in the US. 

 

Maybe more at stake.

I think there is a significant difference.   First, it was investigated and people were charged and some are facing significant jail time.   Coaches and University officials who accepted money have been fired.   Students are suing schools.   

 

People with money will always be able to manipulate the system to get their kids in, but cheating on exams, having someone else take the tests, and having answers changed are fraud and will be dealt with harshly.   

 

It will be a long time before this is finished.   

 

[robblok]

7 hours ago, Credo said:

I think there is a significant difference.   First, it was investigated and people were charged and some are facing significant jail time.   Coaches and University officials who accepted money have been fired.   Students are suing schools.   

 

People with money will always be able to manipulate the system to get their kids in, but cheating on exams, having someone else take the tests, and having answers changed are fraud and will be dealt with harshly.   

 

It will be a long time before this is finished.   

 

There is a difference in punishment not mentality. One could say mentality wise its the same. I will remember this when Americans are bashing Thailand for cheating again. 

 

But your right in the US they do follow up on things like this though you have to wonder how many are not busted. 

[Credo]

16 hours ago, robblok said:

There is a difference in punishment not mentality. One could say mentality wise its the same. I will remember this when Americans are bashing Thailand for cheating again. 

 

But your right in the US they do follow up on things like this though you have to wonder how many are not busted. 

Unless there is something that comes forward, I suspect the FBI is done with investigating for the time being.   I do believe that the Universities will do some of their own investigating.   It's their credibility that is on the line.   

The guy behind the scandal is not employed by the universities.   They have no good reason to protect recruiters.   They might be a little more reluctant to make a move against coaches who are involved, but they have far more to lose than they do to gain by hiding anything.   If they find anything, I suspect charges will follow quickly.

 

[Inn Between]

What I don't understand is the long-term plan. If these rich kids don't have the smarts and/or ambition to get into these colleges legitimately, what were the parents planning to do to ensure all that bribe money wasn't wasted when little Johnny and Jane Richfolk can't pass their tests and exams? Were these proxy test takers supposed to somehow find ways to do all the work and exams for them through to graduation? 

[Briggsy]

3 minutes ago, Inn Between said:

What I don't understand is the long-term plan. If these rich kids don't have the smarts and/or ambition to get into these colleges legitimately, what were the parents planning to do to ensure all that bribe money wasn't wasted when little Johnny and Jane Richfolk can't pass their tests and exams? Were these proxy test takers supposed to somehow find ways to do all the work and exams for them through to graduation? 

I think students admitted on their sports prowess can get through U.S. college despite the obligation for "work and exams". A path has been designed for them.

[Inn Between]

2 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

I think students admitted on their sports prowess can get through U.S. college despite the obligation for "work and exams". A path has been designed for them.

I didn't know they had ALL got in through the athletic departments. But even though, academic standards must be met for all students, even the jocks, don't they? I've only worked at a Thailand university, but we didn't have any students there on athletic scholarships. 

[SEtonal]

1 hour ago, Inn Between said:

I didn't know they had ALL got in through the athletic departments. But even though, academic standards must be met for all students, even the jocks, don't they? I've only worked at a Thailand university, but we didn't have any students there on athletic scholarships. 

 

All Division I colleges in the US have lower admission  standards for athletes.  The Ivy League even has an Academic Index that calculates how much lower the grades and SAT scores of recruited athletes can be than the general student body.  All of the Division I colleges that dominate in sports hire a team of academic counselors and tutors to keep their athletes academically eligible to play sports.

 

Most athletes are put in easy classes and majors.  Until 2011, Stanford used to provide athletes with a list of easy classes to take.  For nearly 20 years, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill awarded grades to athletes and regular students for fake African-American Studies classes that were never taught.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_North_Carolina_academic-athletic_scandal

[Scott]

7 hours ago, Inn Between said:

I didn't know they had ALL got in through the athletic departments. But even though, academic standards must be met for all students, even the jocks, don't they? I've only worked at a Thailand university, but we didn't have any students there on athletic scholarships. 

Most of the students admitted under this fraudulent scheme are no doubt quite able of performing well academically.   They've come from some of the best schools and no doubt have good GPA's in high school.   I don't even think that a recruiter would look at someone who was academically-challenged.   It's pretty hard to explain why a 'D' and 'C' student somehow starts getting high scores on tests like the SAT.  

 

There problem is that they are not good enough to meet the high criteria of some of these schools.  

[Inn Between]

27 minutes ago, Scott said:

Most of the students admitted under this fraudulent scheme are no doubt quite able of performing well academically.   They've come from some of the best schools and no doubt have good GPA's in high school.   I don't even think that a recruiter would look at someone who was academically-challenged.   It's pretty hard to explain why a 'D' and 'C' student somehow starts getting high scores on tests like the SAT.  

 

There problem is that they are not good enough to meet the high criteria of some of these schools.  

That seems a reasonable enough explanation. So, with a lot of well-funded help they'll muddle their way through to a degree in Arts History or some other useful endeavor. ????