Operation Varsity Blues architect Rick Singer was convicted of celebrity bribery

(Updated with US Attorney Statement) Nearly four years after the FBI caught Felicity Huffman, Lori Loughlin and other wealthy parents trying to bribe their children into elite schools, the man behind the entire scheme was finally brought to justice today.

A federal court in Boston this afternoon sentenced Rick Singer to three and a half years in prison and to pay more than $10 million to the IRS. The 62-year-old singer, who strayed far from his top school commute to live in a Florida senior trailer park, was also ordered Wednesday by Judge Rya W. Zobel to hand over a significant amount of personal property related to more if rise 5 million dollars.

“I have lost my ethical values ​​and I regret so much,” the once high-flying head of the Key Worldwide Foundation said in a brief statement in court today. “Honestly, I’m embarrassed.”

Singer’s multimillion-dollar scam, dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues” by the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts and other law enforcement officials, involved falsified or fraudulent test scores, athletic team placements and other illegal methods, including for Oscar-nominated Huffman and others . Totally Fat Loughlin to get their unschooled kids into top schools.

After months of cooperation with the FBI investigating the plan, Singer pleaded guilty in March 2019 to racketeering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of justice. A 200-page indictment was released the same month, targeting more than 30 parents nationwide.

Huffman was sentenced to two weeks in prison in September 2019. Relatively small compared to what other parents have received, the pardon came from Huffman, who had been locked in a deal with prosecutors almost since her arrest. The short sentence also stemmed from the fact that Huffman handed Singer just $15,000, as opposed to the half million that Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli paid for their daughters.

Along with hefty fines, the unrepentant When does the heart call? The actress and her husband were jailed for two and five months respectively for their involvement in the scam. The couple gave Singer and his bogus foundation $500,000 to “use their descendants as recruits for the USC crew team — even though they don’t serve on the crew,” the March 2019 indictment revealed.

Hollywood being Hollywood, both Huffman and Loughlin have regained their careers after their time in prison and time out of the spotlight. Singer, who is suffering from the longest sentence of any person involved in the case, is unlikely to hit back as hard.

Surely part of today’s ruling must come from Singer giving information to several parents about ongoing investigations in 2019, despite theoretically cooperating with law enforcement. This dud puts the obstruction of justice charge on Singer’s list.

In that regard, prosecutors asked U.S. Attorney Rachel S. Rollins to sentence Singer to 6.5 to 8 years in prison. Because sentencing was delayed by the pandemic and the death of one of Singer’s attorneys, the defense asked her client for just six months in prison, plus three years of supervised release and community service.

Today’s last sentence made it clear that the defense fell short.

“Rick Singer was the architect of a sprawling criminal enterprise that corrupted the admissions process at several of the nation’s most elite universities,” U.S. Attorney Rollins said after Singer’s sentencing Wednesday. “His ten-year plan was like something out of a Hollywood movie. He courted the entitled, the rich and famous, who were so desperate to get their kids into college that they lied, cheated and bribed them to get them in,” said the Joe Biden- nominee added. “While this historic case made global headlines about privilege, fame and entitlement, it also exposed the serious flaws in the university’s admissions process. There should not be a separate admissions process for the rich, powerful and entitled. This case has shown that to be the case. But it also led to significant changes in the university admissions process, and I’m incredibly proud of that.”