Gordon Caplan—the former co-chairman of international law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher who was accused of faking his daughter’s learning disability to help her get a better score on a college entrance exam—plans to plead guilty for his role in what authorities have called the largest college admissions scam ever.
“I take full and sole responsibility for my conduct and I am deeply ashamed of my behavior and my actions,” the former top lawyer said in a Friday statement obtained by The Daily Beast. “I apologize not only to my family, friends, colleagues and the legal Bar, but also to students everywhere who have been accepted to college through their own hard work.”
Prosecutors allege dozens of wealthy parents, including celebrities Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, paid admissions consultant William “Rick” Singer upwards of $25 million total to rig test scores, cheat on SAT exams, and bribe college coaches, all with the goal of getting their children into elite universities, including the University of Southern California, Georgetown, Stanford, Yale, and the University of Texas.
According to the FBI investigation dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues,” Caplan, who allegedly paid Singer $75,000, also had a test proctor fix his daughter’s ACT answers after she completed the exam. Singer guaranteed Caplan’s daughter would end up with an ACT score of 32, even though she’d only scored in the low 20s on her practice exams, prosecutors said.