The Wall Street Journal - 07.09.2019 - 08.09.2019

A10| Saturday/Sunday, September 7 - 8, 2019 ** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.**

U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling, above, announced charges on March 12. William ‘Rick’ Singer, below, leaving federal court in Boston.

CRAIG F. WALKER/THE BOSTON GLOBE/GETTY IMAGES

“He was a marketing guy,”

says a former employee of Mr.

Singer’s Newport Beach, Calif.,

counseling company, called

The Key. “Convincing and per-

suasive.”

Many affluent parents hire

private college consultants as

early as a child’s freshman

year of high school. The advis-

ers can steer class and extra-

curricular selections, test

preparation, essays and the

college search.

Dark arts

Mr. Singer’s company of-

fered legitimate services to

some parents and sold others

on darker arts.

Federal prosecutors say

some paid Mr. Singer $15,

to $75,000 through a sham

charity to cheat on SAT and

ACT college entrance exams.

They allege he steered clients

to doctors to secure special

testing arrangements, whether

or not teens had medical condi-

tions meriting them, and then a

proctor he paid would correct

students’ answers at test sites

in Texas and California.

Other parents, prosecutors

say, paid hundreds of thou-

sands of dollars to Mr. Singer’s

charity for access to what he

called a “side door” into col-

leges, in which he funneled

money to coaches or athletic

programs. They say he ex-

plained to parents that

coaches would designate their

children as recruited athletes,

regardless of ability, nearly

guaranteeing their admission.

Some parents helped craft bo-

gus athletic profiles for their

teens.

you thought you needed what

he was selling,” says Tre Con-

way, a former director at a

Los Angeles school where Mr.

Singer counseled students.

Eric Webb, a Peoria, Ill., ex-

ecutive, says Mr. Singer’s en-

cyclopedic knowledge of col-

leges helped his son find a

school that was a good fit.

Mr. Webb hired him again

for a daughter, who he says is

athletic and had excellent

grades. He says Mr. Singer

warned that she faced stiff

competition to get into schools

that were on her short list.

He recalls Mr. Singer advis-

ing: “There are some schools

that you might not be able to

get into even though you have

straight A’s and a good ré-

sumé. But if you go there

through sports, you may have

a leg up.”

Mr. Webb says Mr. Singer

recommended that his daugh-

ter pitch herself for the crew

team—even though she wasn’t

a rower. Mr. Webb bought an

ergometer to see whether his

daughter’s times were in the

ballpark of competitive. She

wasn’t interested in the sport,

so they didn’t pursue it fur-

ther. She landed at a top

choice.

A Nevada chief executive

says he hired Mr. Singer in

2012 to counsel his daughter,

after a referral from a Bay

Area CEO. He says Mr. Singer,

on his first visit, asked his

daughter, ranked second in her

sophomore class, to talk about

herself.

She told him about her

grades, PSAT scores and com-

munity-service work. “Nope,

you’re not special,” she recalls

Mr. Singer saying. “It just de-

stroyed me, and it scared my

parents. He was really smart

about this. He would pick at

every insecurity. He would

make you feel absolutely

worthless and completely de-

pendent on him to get into

college.”

Says the father: “Parents

want a quick fix. This is on

parents, too.”

‘Side door’

During their third or fourth

meeting, she says, Mr. Singer

explained casually that there

was an admissions “front

door,” where applicants got in

the regular way, a “back door,”

where families made big dona-

tions to increase their odds,

and a “side door”—a sure-

thing strategy he had in-

vented.

College coaches had excess

walk-on spots that could go

unused each year, she recalls

him saying. He matched cli-

ents to those spots. Teens

wouldn’t have to play, and no

harm resulted because the

“spot would go to waste” oth-

erwise, she recalls him saying.

She says he didn’t mention

money and made it sound like

a benign hack, and that her

family just brushed it off. They

were confident she could get

in to one of the roughly dozen

colleges she applied to the

regular way.

In her senior year, she says,

Mr. Singer told her to decide

“how to identify” on her col-

lege application to be most

competitive. Though she is

white, she recalls him telling

her that if she identified with

College Competition

Acceptanceratesat

selectiveU.S.collegesand

universitieshave

plummetedinrecentyears.

Mean acceptance rate

Source: U.S. Department of Education

Note: Based on the 50 colleges and universities

with the lowest 2017 undergraduate

acceptance rates

22

12

14

16

18

20

%

2008 ’10 ’12 ’14 ’

Clients say Mr. Singer, who

visited them in their homes,

was methodical and driven. A

former basketball coach, he

once challenged a client’s child,

who had spouted off about his

athletic prowess, to a push-up

contest, and beat him.

“I liked him because he got

in the kid’s face,” says that cli-

ent, a Los Angeles-area father

who hired Mr. Singer to coun-

sel his two sons. “He took the

gloves off.”

Mackin Carroll, from Or-

ange County, Calif., says Mr.

Singer’s message resonated

with his mother, who worried

he would be left behind in the

college-application process.

Mr. Carroll, now 24 and a

songwriter, says he rejected

the directive to “tweak your

narrative.”

Mr. Carroll says Mr. Singer

urged him to say the Sept. 11

terrorist attacks influenced his

music and moved him to write

patriotic ballads. He was 6

when the attacks occurred. His

mother declined to comment.

Mr. Carroll says he worked

with Mr. Singer for a few

years in high school and was

admitted to USC, without re-

sorting to any trickery, to

study music.

“Rick was so good at selling

that by the time he got done,

Mr. Singer offered

legitimate services

to some and darker

arts to others.

FROM PAGE ONE

charged were willing partici-
pants. People close to Mr.
Singer said those parents gen-
erally weren’t naive and un-
derstood what he was doing.
Other parents who had deal-
ings with him say they were
unaware of Mr. Singer’s im-
proper actions.
Parents who worked with
him and those that considered
it described him as a disci-
plined, confident and some-
times charismatic man who
claimed to have influence at
top schools. Yet when prospec-
tive clients questioned certain
tactics, some of these people
said, he could grow angry or
evasive, sometimes even
threatening.
His message to parents hit
on their deepest concern, says
Mr. Larson, the swim-team
dad and owner of an executive
coaching firm: “What if I’m
not doing enough to help my
kid?”
Mr. Larson says his daugh-
ter is bright and was a com-
petitive swimmer but not a
good test taker. When he con-
sulted Mr. Singer around 2012
about the tutoring service he
offered, he says, the college
counselor floated an unusual
plan. Mr. Singer proposed hav-
ing doctors diagnose the girl
with a condition such as anxi-
ety—making it sound like a
sure thing—thereby allowing
her to take her college-en-
trance exam with a proctor ar-
ranged by Mr. Singer, accord-
ing to Mr. Larson. The charge
would be a $15,000 tax-de-
ductible “donation” to Mr.
Singer’s charity.
When Mr. Larson pressed
for specifics, Mr. Singer be-
came dismissive and acted
surprised, Mr. Larson says. “It
was a ‘This is what we do ev-
ery day’ kind of thing,” he re-
calls. Mr. Larson found the in-
teraction odd. “It never
stacked up as legitimate to
me,” he says. He didn’t hire
Mr. Singer. His daughter
worked with other tutors and
went to the University of
Houston.
Mr. Singer’s mode of opera-
tion, and how some parents
came to step over ethical and
legal lines in working with
him, are expected to play into
the legal defenses of some of
the 34 parents who were
charged criminally, and in the
sentence-mitigation strategies
of the 15 who have pleaded
guilty thus far, according to
defense lawyers and a college
consultant close to one family
implicated. The sentencings
begin this month in federal
court in Boston.
Mr. Singer, 58 years old, has
admitted to leading a criminal
scheme and pleaded guilty to
four felonies. “What made it
very attractive to so many
families is I created a guaran-
tee,” he said in a March plea
hearing in Boston.
Mr. Singer’s lawyer said his
client, who is awaiting sen-
tencing, wouldn’t comment.
Mr. Singer could be vague
initially about his tactics for
securing spots at schools in-
cluding the University of
Southern California and
Georgetown University, and he
discouraged parents from ask-
ing too many questions, ac-
cording to clients and pro-
spective clients.

Continued from Page One

the African-American struggle,

she could categorize herself as

black, and that he could get

her a “tribal card” if she

wished to check Native Ameri-

can.

“There is zero chance I do

that,” she says she replied. He

told her he was merely offer-

ing options, she says. Other

clients did fudge their ethnic-

ity, say people familiar with

the federal investigation.

The girl, who graduated as

valedictorian, didn’t get her

top choice but landed at an-

other elite university.

Her father says he also

hired Mr. Singer to help his

son. Though a good student

and competitive tennis player,

the boy’s résumé was a cut be-

low his sister’s. His father was

interested in Georgetown,

where prosecutors said Mr.

Singer paid then head tennis

coach Gordon Ernst more than

$2.7 million in bribes between

2012 and 2018 to promote stu-

dents for admission. Mr. Ernst

pleaded not guilty to a charge

of conspiracy to commit racke-

teering.

The father recalls that

while visiting Georgetown for

another reason in 2017, he

called Mr. Singer to discuss his

son’s chances. “Do you want

me to make it happen?” he re-

calls Mr. Singer responding,

suggesting a donation of

$400,000 to Georgetown’s ten-

nis program.

Mr. Singer arranged a pri-

vate meeting with Mr. Ernst

for that same day, the father

recalls. The meeting turned

strange fast, he says. When

the dad pressed Mr. Ernst on

how the donation would be

spent—scholarships? travel

costs?—the coach acted con-

fused, he says.

“Well, a coach has to eat,”

Mr. Ernst finally said, accord-

ing to the father.

A lawyer for Mr. Ernst de-

clined to comment.

The father says he left

stunned and was still on cam-

pus when Mr. Singer called

minutes later. “Rick, I don’t

understand. I thought this was

going to the program,” the fa-

ther recalls telling Mr. Singer.

Mr. Singer, he says, insisted

that money to the coach was

the same thing. The father re-

sisted and hung up thinking

Mr. Singer got the message he

wasn’t interested.

On Sept. 20, 2017, Mr.

Singer texted the father: “D-

Day is here,” Mr. Singer wrote.

“I need to know what you de-

cided.”

“Rick, I thought I told you,”

the father says he told Mr.

Singer over the phone. “This is

not something we would do in

our family.”

He says Mr. Singer barked

back: “What did you say to

me?” Mr. Singer fired him as a

client on the spot, promising

to never help his son with ad-

missions. He even canceled ac-

ademic tutors his company

had arranged, the father says.

He worried Mr. Singer had

enough clout to sabotage his

son. “I was scared out of my

mind,” he says.

After his son was safely

into college—he was rejected

by Georgetown but admitted

elsewhere—the father texted

Mr. Singer. “How sad I was at

the way you chose to conduct

yourself,” he wrote. “I assume

that you have financial pres-

sures...what a terrible choice

you made.”

He wrote that his daughter

“always thought you were a

bluff,” and conceded, “Turns

out the kids are a lot smarter

than I am.”

Mr. Singer, he says, never

responded.

Scam

Played on

Anxiety

BOSTON—Federal prosecu-
tors are recommending prison
time for parents who have
pleaded guilty in the college-
admissions cheating case, urg-
ing the judge to send a message
about privilege and fairness
when deciding sentences.
Proposed sentences, though,
are generally at the low end of
or even below initial sentencing
recommendations laid out in
plea agreements this spring.
They range from one month
each for Felicity Huffman and
Peter Jan Sartorio to 15 months
each for Stephen Semprevivo
and Agustin Huneeus Jr. Ms.
Huffman, an actress, is the first
to be scheduled for sentencing,
on Sept. 13.
Fifteen parents have pleaded
guilty in the sprawling admis-
sions-fraud case.
The defendants have their

own opportunity to request le-

niency, filing letters of support

to the judge from friends and

family.

Ms. Huffman’s legal team

submitted a memo Friday, say-

ing she is “remorseful” and

“ashamed,” and that her behav-

ior was “completely out of

character.”

A lawyer for Mr. Semprevivo

had no comment, and a lawyer

for Mr. Huneeus didn’t respond

to a request for comment.

“Perched at the apex of

wealth, privilege and, in some

instances, fame, these defen-

dants were not content with

the distinct advantages they al-

ready enjoyed in the admis-

sions process,” said a memo

submitted by U.S. Attorney An-

drew Lelling to the court Friday

afternoon.

In total, 51 individuals have

been criminally charged, ac-

cused of working with college

counselor William “Rick”

Singer to fraudulently secure

spots at top colleges for

wealthy teens. Some parents

admitted to using Mr. Singer to

secure diagnoses of learning

disabilities for their children,

allowing them to cheat on SAT

or ACT exams with the help of

Mr. Singer’s paid proctors. Oth-

ers bribed coaches or adminis-

trators to flag their teens as re-

cruited athletes, regardless of

athletic ability. Some partici-

pated in both prongs of the

scheme.

The memo, written by Assis-

tant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen

and other prosecutors, said

parents showed “an astonishing

degree of self-entitlement and

moral insularity” and corrupted

the admissions system, shut-

ting out other qualified candi-

dates. Calling home confine-

ment “a penological joke,”

prosecutors said jail is “a par-

ticularly meaningful response

to this kind of offense.”

There is an unusually public

dispute between prosecutors

and the federal probation of-

fice, which advises the court on

sentences for defendants. In

guilty plea agreements ham-

mered out in recent months,

prosecutors tied punishments

to financial loss, using the

money parents paid to Mr.

Singer as a proxy for loss. The

government has portrayed col-

leges, testing agencies and

other qualified applicants who

didn’t get in as victims.

Probation officials have so

far found no direct financial

loss, however, for the victims,

which could mean parents re-

ceive lighter punishments.

Findings of no financial loss of-

ten result in guidelines of zero

to six months in prison, which

judges often reduce to proba-

tion for first-time defenders. A

federal judge has called a hear-

ing for Tuesday on the dispute.

Prosecutors earlier recom-

mended four months in prison

for Ms. Huffman. One reason

for the relatively light sentence,

they said, is that Ms. Huffman

chose not to hire Mr. Singer for

a second child, after agreeing

to pay $15,000 to participate in

the exam-cheating scheme for

her older daughter.

Ms. Huffman’s legal team

asked in a separate legal filing

Friday for one year of proba-

tion, 250 hours of community

service and a fine.

BYMELISSAKORN
ANDJENNIFERLEVITZ

Prison Sentences Urged in College Case

Prosecutors recommended a one-month sentence for actress

Felicity Huffman, down from four months proposed earlier.

GRETCHEN ERTL/REUTERS