LOS ANGELES _ The head of a West Hollywood private school where dozens of wealthy parents allegedly had their children's SAT and ACT exams fixed signaled Tuesday that he would plead guilty and cooperate with investigators, a blow to parents charged in the admissions scandal.
The plea is a coup for prosecutors, who are likely to use the administrator to buttress their argument that William "Rick" Singer and his clients were entwined in a criminal conspiracy to get their children into elite colleges.
Igor Dvorskiy, director of the West Hollywood College Preparatory School, will plead guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering no later than Nov. 20, according to a plea agreement filed Tuesday in federal court. He has agreed to cooperate with the government and testify at trial, if called.
In signing a plea deal, Dvorskiy, a resident of Sherman Oaks, acknowledged taking bribes from Singer, the Newport Beach consultant at the heart of the college admissions scandal, and in turn allowing a test-fixing fraud to be perpetrated for years at his school.
Singer would direct his clients _ wealthy parents from the west side of Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Manhattan and elsewhere _ to register their children to take their SAT or ACT exams at Dvorskiy's school. There, Mark Riddell, Singer's Harvard-educated accomplice, would correct the children's answers after they took the test, or tell them which answers to bubble in.
Singer charged his clients between $15,000 and $75,000 to fix a test, of which Dvorskiy and Riddell would receive a cut.
Singer was arrested last September, cooperated with investigators and pleaded guilty to four felonies in March. Riddell pleaded guilty to in April to conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering, and has also cooperated with the government. Both men are awaiting sentencing.
Dvorskiy, who was arrested March 12, had initially pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy. His reversal Tuesday follows a cascade of guilty pleas, from 15 parents, five university coaches and an accountant who have admitted conspiring with Singer.
If prosecutors determine Dvorskiy furnished them with useful information, they have agreed to recommend a sentence below the range laid out in his plea deal, which calls for 24 to 30 months in prison.
Eighteen parents have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering. A 19th, Xiaoning Sui, was arrested last month in Spain; prosecutors are now pursuing her extradition.
Of the 19 parents who haven't pleaded guilty, eight are accused of paying Singer to rig their children's exams at Dvorskiy's school.
