A California woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to paying $9,000 in bribes to have a surrogate secretly take online classes on behalf of her son _ one of several dishonest tactics uncovered by federal authorities last year as part of a massive college admissions cheating investigation.
The Newport Beach resident, 57-year-old Karen Littlefair, bribed a counseling business to have one of its employees take four classes for her son to facilitate his graduation from Georgetown University in May 2018, authorities said.
The company, led by convicted mastermind William "Rick" Singer, also arranged for one of its workers to impersonate the student during a video conference with a Georgetown professor in October 2017, when the young man was out of the country, according to a plea agreement reviewed by the Daily News.
The woman later tried getting a discount from Singer because her son got a C in one of those classes and "the experience was a nightmare," Littlefair wrote in an April 2018 email described in the agreement. Singer denied the request and said the "process was a nightmare for all."
Littlefair was charged in December, nine months after federal prosecutors in Boston unveiled Singer's nearly decade-long conspiracy, which has implicated more than 50 celebrities, corporate titans, athletic coaches and college administrators. The list includes "Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman, "Full House" actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli.
Singer, who's pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the ongoing investigation, helped most of those parents get their children into elite colleges by having applicants' ACT or SAT scores fraudulently changed or by creating fake athletic profiles to facilitate their admission. Littlefair is the first and only defendant charged with bribing Singer while a student was already attending college.
She pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is also cooperating with the investigation.
Prosecutors said they will recommend a sentence of four months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release and a fine of $9,500. Her sentence hearing is scheduled for May 13.
The first defendant to be sentenced in the case was Huffman, who ended up serving 11 days behind bars in October after admitting her involvement. Loughlin and Giannulli are still fighting the charges against them.
