Mum falsely claimed white son was black and Latino before bribing exam proctor to get into college

A mother who falsely claimed her white son was black, Latino and a first-generation college student before bribing an exam proctor to change his grades has been sentenced to three weeks in prison.

Jewellery business owner Marjorie Klapper was sentenced on Wednesday for her role in what prosecutors say is the largest college admissions scam uncovered in the United States.

Klapper, 50, received less than the four-month prison term federal prosecutors in Boston sought after she admitted to paying $15,000 (£11,703) to have a corrupt test proctor secretly correct her son’s answers on the ACT college entrance exam.

US District Judge Indira Talwani also ordered her to pay a $9,500 (£7,400) fine.

US Attorney Andrew E Lelling called the three-week prison sentence insufficient, adding in a statement: “Ms Klapper thereby not only corrupted the standardised testing system, but also specifically victimised the real minority applicants already fighting for admission to elite schools.”

Prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo: “She purposefully sought to portray her son as a minority, and the child of parents who did not attend college, despite the fact that he was neither, because she thought that lie would further bolster his college prospects.

“She thereby increased the likelihood that her fraud would come at the expense of an actual minority candidate, or an applicant who was actually the first in his or her family to attend college.”

Previously she pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

Her attorneys wrote in a statement: “Ms Klapper’s motives were maternal but her execution misguided and illegal.

“Beyond question, Ms Klapper allowed her zeal to over-reach, for which she profoundly regrets and takes full responsibility.”

Klapper is among 52 people charged with a vast scheme to conspire with California college admissions consultants to fraudulently secure their children’s admission to top schools.

William “Rick” Singer, the consultant, pleaded guilty in March to charges that he facilitated cheating on college entrance exams and helped bribe sports coaches at universities to present his client’s children as fake athletic recruits.

The 35 parents charged in the investigation include executives and celebrities, such as Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman and actress Lori Loughlin.

Huffman reported to prison on Tuesday after she admitted to engaging in the college exam cheating scheme and was sentenced to a 14-day term. Loughlin has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors said Klapper in 2017 arranged through Singer to have an associate pose as a proctor for her son’s ACT exam to correct his answers at a test centre Singer controlled through bribery.

The proctor was Mark Riddell, a former counsellor at a Florida private school who pleaded guilty in April to secretly taking SAT and ACT college entrance exams in place of Singer’s clients’ children or correcting their answers.

Prosecutors said Klapper’s son used the fraudulent ACT score he received to apply to universities in Arizona, California, Colorado and elsewhere.