A California mother falsely claimed that her white son was Latino and black on his college applications was sentenced to 3 weeks in prison as part of the college admissions scam, federal prosecutors said.
Marjorie Klapper is a jewelry business owner and she is the eighth parent to be sentenced in the sprawling scheme to game the college admissions system.
Klapper was asked to be sentenced to 4 months by the government, while her attorneys requested she gets one year of supervised release.
She has been involved in various types of fraud over the course of three years on behalf of both of her sons. She contacted the singer for the first time in 2014 for the help to prepare her older son for his college admission tests.
Klapper paid $15,000 to a fake charity set up by the scam’s mastermind William “Rick” Singer, who then paid a proctor to correct Klapper’s son’s ACT answers. Her son scored a 30 out of 36 on the test with the help.
Not only this, but Klapper agreed to misrepresent her son as African American and of Hispanic/Latino origin on his college applications in an apparent attempt to claim minority status and further improve his odds of admission, according to prosecutor’s sentencing memo.
US Attorney Andrew E. Lelling said: “Ms. Klapper thereby not only corrupted the standardized testing system, but also specifically victimized the real minority applicants already fighting for admission to elite schools,”
“We respectfully disagree that a three-week sentence is a sufficient sanction for this misconduct.”
Her defense attorneys said in court filings that she was motivated by her son’s “legitimate and documented disadvantages” and a recent violent assault.
“Mrs. Klapper’s motives were maternal but her execution misguided and illegal,” the attorneys wrote. “Beyond question, Mrs. Klapper allowed her zeal to over-reach, for which she profoundly regrets and takes full responsibility.”
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