Admissions Scam Row: This big-shot Lawyer pleads guilty in Boston Federal Court

May 22, 2019;

On Tuesday, a big-shot Big Apple lawyer admitted to paying $75,000 to doctor his daughter’s ACT exam as part of the nationwide college admissions cheating scandal.

Gordon Caplan, a Former Co-Chairman at white-shoe firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, pleaded guilty in Boston Federal Court to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud — while stressing to Judge Indira Talwani that his daughter had “absolutely nothing to do with this,” according to Bloomberg.

“I am deeply ashamed, I’m terribly sorry. I’m really sorry to my daughter who I love more than anything in the world and who knew nothing about this and who hasn’t even applied to college yet,” Caplan added later outside the court.

Prosecutors are recommending he serve between eight and 14 months in the slammer as part of a plea deal. He’ll be sentenced Oct. 3.

The 52-year-old is one of dozens of parents charged for allegedly paying the scheme’s mastermind, William “Rick” Singer, to get their kids into top colleges by bribing exam and athletic officials.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher said last month that Caplan “is no longer a partner of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.”

The Greenwich, Conn., resident paid Singer $75,000 to have an accomplice correct the answers on his daughter’s ACT exam on Dec. 8, 2018, in the hope of gaining a score of 32, according to court documents.

Court papers say Caplan was repeatedly caught on wiretaps plotting with Singer, who has admitted masterminding the scam.

“So she’s going to take the test on her own, she’s going to do her best, all that stuff, and then we’re going to do our magic on the back end,” Singer told Caplan on a wiretapped call, according to an affadavit.

“That essentially, that’s why I know I can get a 31, 32, you know, so we’re going to aim for 31, so that if we go 30 or 32 we’re safe, how’s that?”

Caplan replied: “I think that’s fine.”

In another conversation, Caplan said paying for the service was “not an issue.”

“It’s just, to be honest, I’m not worried about the moral issue here. I’m worried about the, if she’s caught doing that, you know, she’s finished,” he said, according to court papers.

Earlier this month, “Desperate Housewives” star Felicity Huffman pleaded guilty to her role in the scam, breaking down in court while also copping to rigging her eldest daughter’s SAT score.

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