Entertainment

Rick Singer, mastermind of ‘Varsity Blues’ college cheating scandal, sentenced to 42 months in prison

Written by ABC Audio. All rights reserved. on January 4, 2023

Rick Singer, mastermind of the college admissions cheating scheme known as Varsity Blues that involved Hollywood stars Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, was sentenced Wednesday afternoon to 42 months in prison. Singer will then be on supervised release for three more years.

Singer’s sentence comes nearly four years after the former college admissions consultant pleaded guilty in March 2019 to helping parents of dozens of well-to-do high school students cheat their way into elite universities. As part of his plea, Singer helped prosecutors convict his former clients.

Singer, 62, pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of justice.

Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of six years in prison — much more than the six-month maximum Singer’s lawyers requested.

The scandal saw wealthy people, including Huffman and Loughlin,use Singer’s expertise to fraudulently get their children into sought-after colleges.

“Singer was the architect of a massive, decade-long scheme to use fraud and bribery to secure the admission of high school students to elite colleges and universities across the country,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum, calling his scheme “Staggering in scope” and”breathtaking in its audacity.”

Huffman was ultimately sentenced to 14 days in prison and served 11 after pleading guilty in the scandal. Loughlin and her designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, pleaded guilty in May of 2020 after paying $500,000 to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California as crew recruits, when neither child participated in the sport.

Loughlin pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and served two months behind bars. Giannulli was sentenced to five months in prison with an additional two years of supervised release, in addition to a $250,000 fine and community service.