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Silicon Valley parents admitted making $25,000 bribe payment to cheat on son’s SAT

2 mins read

The rich parents from Palo Alto became the latest addition to persons convicted in the college admissions scandal after they admitted to a Boston federal courtroom on Tuesday that they shell out $25, 000 in bribes to cheat on their child’s admission exam, KPIX5 reported.

63-year-old Dr. Gregory Colburn and his 61-year-old wife, Amy, released a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, as well as honest services mail and wire fraud. Six weeks prior to their federal court trial, the couple had agreed to the plea deal.

Amy Colburn, left, and Gregory Colburn, center, leaves the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston on April 3, 2019.(Photo by Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Through a statement, acting U.S. Attorney Nathaniel Mendell confirmed that the Colburns admitted to plead guilty on their involvement to deceive The College Board. The two allegedly paid $25, 000 to William “Rick” Singer to bribe a corrupt test administrator, Igor Dvorskiy.

The bogus test proctor Mark Riddell, was arranged by Dvorskiy. Mendell said that Riddell dishonestly raised the SAT exam score of Colburn’s son.

Convicted on federal charges were Singer, Dvorskiy and Riddell, for their roles in the deception.

According to Mendell’s office, the rich parents have agreed to spend eight weeks in jail as part of the plea agreement. This, however, shall still be granted the approval of the court. Apart from this, they will also have a year of supervised release, a $12,500 in fine, and 100 hours of community service.

The sentencing of the case was scheduled by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton for April 14.

The Colburns are the latest addition to about 60 rich parents, athletic mentors, among others, who face charges in “Operation Varsity Blues” case. Singer led the deception, which involved test score manipulation and compensating sports coaches for students to land on leading universities in the country, according to prosecutors.

They became the 36th and 37th parents convicted in a college admissions case following trial.

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