College Cheating Scandal Mastermind Graduated Niles West

SKOKIE, IL — The mastermind of the largest college admissions scandal in U.S. history is a graduate of Niles West High School, according to a 40-year-old yearbook discovered by student journalists at the school paper.

William "Rick" Singer, 58, admitted to being at the center of a nationwide scheme to cheat on exams and bribe school officials to get the children of wealthy parents into college. He pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

Charges are pending against 33 parents and 13 co-conspirators accused of participation, including coaches, administrators and staff of Singer's Edge College & Career Network and the Key Worldwide Foundation, identified in what federal investigators called "Operation Varsity Blues." Singer was paid roughly $25 million between 2011 and last month to fraudulently secure the admission students using his "charitable organization" to hide the bribes, prosecutors said.

The Niles West News reported Thursday that Rick Singer was a member of the class of 1978 at Niles West, publishing a yearbook photo appearing to show a curly haired, 18-year-old Singer. Niles Township High School District 219 said it was unable to confirm “Rick W. Singer” and “William ‘Rick’ Singer” are the same person, according to the school paper. The two Niles West seniors who broke the story are themselves waiting for responses to their combined 26 college applications, they told WLS-TV, which said Friday it confirmed their reporting.

Violet Gilbert told the station she did not think Singer should not be "representative" of the school community. Her co-author Lexi Lee, who has applied to one of the schools heavily involved in the scandal, said learning the process was less fair than she believed was "very surprising and somewhat upsetting."

No universities in Illinois were named in charging documents unsealed this week, but an affidavit from an FBI forensic accountant identifies the parents of a student at Northwestern University. It says her parents, Manuel and Elizabeth Henriquez of Atherton, California, flew her to Houston and then to the Los Angeles area in order to take standardized tests administered by corrupt proctors who fed her the answers.

According to school records, Singer lived in Lincolnwood and played football and baseball, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Niles West alumni described him as charming and friendly and he wrote in his yearbook he "would most like to be remembered for the outstanding personality I have been given." He would go on to graduate in 1986 from Trinity University in San Antonio and begin a career in college admissions counseling in California.

Singer's foundation, which he admitted was used for a bribery and money laundering scheme, gave $150,000 to DePaul University in Chicago while his son was attending, the Chicago Tribune reported. The school said a "review has not revealed any reason to believe these donations are connected to recent indictments," but it declined to disclose whether or how much Singer or his organizations had given to the school before his son, who graduated in 2017, was admitted.

Last year, another Niles West graduate's federal prison sentencing made national news. George Papadopoulous, a member of the Niles West class of 2005 and the DePaul University class of 2009, was the first person to be sentenced to prison in connection with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. He served 12 days in a minimum security prison in Wisconsin and was released Dec. 7.

Singer is due to be sentenced June 19. He faces a maximum penalty of $1.25 million in fines and 65 years in federal prison.

Earlier: 'Operation Varsity Blues': College Cheating Scheme Names Dozens