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California mom sentenced to 3 weeks in college admissions cheating scandal

She paid $15,000 to have her son's ACT scores boosted and also tried to falsely identify him as a racial minority.
Image: Klapper leaves the federal courthouse after being sentenced in Boston
Jewelry business owner Marjorie Klapper leaves the federal courthouse after being sentenced in nationwide college admissions cheating scheme in Boston, Massachusetts on Oct. 16, 2019.Brian Snyder / Reuters

A California woman was sentenced Wednesday to three weeks in prison in a massive college entrance exam cheating scandal, becoming the ninth parent sentenced so far in the sweeping case, federal prosecutors said.

Marjorie Klapper, 50, of Menlo Park pleaded guilty in May to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

She was sentenced to three weeks in prison, followed by one year of supervised release and a $9,500 fine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a statement. She will also have to perform 250 hours of community service.

Klapper paid $15,000 to a sham charity organized by the mastermind of the scheme, William "Rick" Singer, to have her son’s ACT scores changed, and she also conspired with Singer to have her son’s applications falsely state he was of black or Latino origin in a bid to get him accepted, prosecutors said.

In court documents, Klapper’s lawyers said the scheme’s ringleaders listed her son as a racial minority without her knowledge, the Associated Press reported. They said she pursued the scheme because she wanted her son, who has a learning disability, to feel like a "regular" student.

Prosecutors sought a four-month sentence. By falsely claiming her son's ethnic heritage, Klapper " specifically victimized the real minority applicants already fighting for admission to elite schools," Andrew E. Lelling, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said in a statement.

"We respectfully disagree that a three-week sentence is a sufficient sanction for this misconduct," Lelling said.

Klapper is the ninth parent sentenced so far in the scheme, which resulted in charges against dozens of people, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli.

Huffman has pleaded guilty and was sentenced last month to 14 days in jail. She reported to a federal prison in Northern California on Tuesday to begin her sentence.

So far the longest prison term handed down to any parent in the scheme was California vinter Agustin Francisco Huneeus Jr., who earlier this month was sentenced to five months in prison.