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William "Rick" Singer, the man behind the "Varsity Blues" college admission scandal, was sentenced to 42 months in prison. He will then be under supervised release for three more years.
Singer pleaded guilty to numerous charges in March 2019, including racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and obstruction of justice.
As part of the plea deal, Singer agreed to help prosecutors convict his former clients, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.
Singer was the ringleader of the plot in which he collected around $6 million in exchange for bribing college officials and test administrators to alter the scores on the college entrance exams. He funneled the money through his charity, which allowed the parents to write off their expenses on their taxes.
"Without this defendant, without Rick Singer coming up with a scheme, masterminding the scheme, orchestrating the scheme, it never would have happened," prosecutors said. "He is the architect, he is the face of this fraud."
Singer apologized for his actions before he was sentenced.
"Those students were intelligent and deserving of more integrity than I showed them," Singer told the court.
"I can see the difference between how I was and how I am now and always want to be," he said. "All I want to do is live a life that is deeper and more enriched by devoting myself to making a difference in other people's lives."
"Despite my passion to help others, I have lost my ethical values, and I have so much regret. To be frank, I am ashamed of myself," he added.