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A New York lawyer said Friday that he would plead guilty to paying US $ 75,000 to a university consultant to improve his daughter's standardized test score, saying his daughter was not aware of the scheme and that she "was devastated to learn what I did."
Gordon Caplan, 52, who was put on leave from his position as Willkie Farr & Gallagher's co-chair after being indicted last month in the university corruption scandal, said: "I am assuming the Full responsibility for my behavior. "
"I want to point out that my daughter, whom I love more than anything in the world, is a high school student who has not yet applied to university, let alone accepted by any school," he said. said Caplan in a statement. "She had no knowledge of my actions, was devastated to learn what I did and was the most hurt."
The father of Greenwich, Connecticut, was among the 50 celebrities, including celebrities, financiers and college coaches, accused of having implemented a bold corruption program to help their children get into some of the best colleges in the country.
Caplan was one of 32 parents accused of conspiracy to commit postal fraud and honest service fraud in a criminal complaint. The amount of payments that parents are charged varies greatly, ranging from $ 15,000 to $ 1.2 million.
Caplan is the second parent who said he would plead guilty in the "Operation Varsity Blues" case.
He is accused of paying $ 75,000 last year to William "Rick" Singer, leader of the fraud scheme, to have a person change the incorrect answers to his daughter's ACT test to give him a significantly higher score. .
"She will not even know it happened," Singer told Caplan, according to an FBI affidavit filed in Boston federal court. "It's going to be as if she's going to think she's really smart, and she was lucky in a test, and you have a score now. There are many ways to do it. I can do anything and anything, if you are ready to do it.
Caplan arranged for her daughter to take the ACT test in California, where Singer's accomplice played the role of test supervisor and corrected her responses thereafter.
"To be honest, I do not worry about the moral issue here," Caplan said during a phone call with Singer last July. "I'm worried about, if she's caught doing it, you know, she's finished."
In his statement on Friday, Caplan expressed remorse for the pain he caused to his daughter.
"My immediate goal is to repair my actions in an attempt to regain the trust and respect of my daughter, my family and my community," said Caplan. "The remorse and shame I feel is more than I can convey."
Caplan said that he "would devote himself to trying to fix what's wrong".
Prosecutors have negotiated with some parents to plead guilty, but they plan to impose a jail sentence ranging from six months to several years, according to several people aware of the negotiations. According to federal sentencing guidelines, parents' jail time depends on the amount of their bribes.
Parents who do not plead guilty should be charged as early as next week for mail fraud and money laundering prosecutions.
On Wednesday, lawyers for another parent, Peter Sartorio, revealed in court that he intended to plead guilty. Two other parents, Jane Buckingham and Devin Sloane, informed the court that they were negotiating and hoping to resolve their case.
On Wednesday, Caplan appeared before nine other parents, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, in the Boston Seaport court.
Singer began cooperating with federal authorities in September. He admitted to rigging a system in which parents paid bribes to his company disguised as charitable donations. In some cases, he has asked an accomplice to take the SAT and ACT exams for his clients' children or to correct their answers afterwards.
In other cases, he bribed coaches to name students as sports recruits to facilitate admission, even if the applicant had not practiced the sport, according to court records.
Shelley Murphy can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @shelleymurph.
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