Newport Beach Mother Gets 5 Weeks In Prison For Hiring Ringer To Take Classes For Her Son

BOSTON (CBSLA/AP) – A 57-year-old Newport Beach woman will serve five weeks in federal prison for paying thousands of dollars in bribe money to have someone take college courses for her son, the latest parent to be sentenced in the college admissions scandal.

Karen Littlefair was sentenced in Boston federal court Wednesday to five weeks in prison, two weeks of supervised release and 300 hours of community service. She must also pay a $209,000 fine.

Back in January, Littlefair plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for paying $9,000 to have a person take online classes for her son to help him graduate from Georgetown University after he was placed on probation in 2018.

Littlefair paid Newport Beach businessman William "Rick" Singer, the mastermind behind the college admissions scandal, $9,000 to have an employee for Singer's college counseling company, "The Key," take four online classes for Littlefair's son at both Georgetown and other schools, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Littlefair asked U.S District Judge Allison Burroughs for leniency Thursday. She said she was "truly sorry" and called the experience a "nightmare" for her family.

"I acted out of love for my son but I ended up hurting my son greatly," Littlefair said.

Littlefair demanded a discount on the cheating after the person earned a C in one of the courses, authorities said.

"Kind of thought there would have been a discount on that one. The grade was a C and the experience was a nightmare," she told Singer's accountant in an email, according to court documents.

Burroughs told Littlefair she taught her son "it's OK to cheat, it's OK to take shortcuts."

"You're supposed to get more by earning it and working for it and I think that's a lesson your son needs to learn and sadly he's going to learn it the hard way here," the judge said.

On March 12, 2019, the FBI charged 51 people — including 34 parents and nine coaches — in a massive bribery scheme in which wealthy families paid millions to Singer to help their children cheat on standardized tests and bribe test administrators and college coaches to help get their kids into top universities like UCLA, USC, Yale, Stanford and Georgetown.

So far, nearly 30 parents have pleaded guilty, including actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman. Huffman, of "Desperate Housewives" fame, served 11 days of a 14-day sentence in October of 2019 .

Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli plead guilty in May to paying $500,000 to get their two daughters into USC as members of the crew team, even though neither had ever rowed crew. They are scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 21. If the judge accepts their plea deals, Loughlin will be sentenced to two months in prison and Giannulli will be sentenced to five months.

Also sentenced Wednesday was David Sidoo, a former Canadian Football League player, to three months in prison for hiring someone take the SATs in place of his two sons

Sidoo, who played professional football for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and BC Lions, lowered his head into his hands and cried as U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton chided him for his actions. Sidoo told the judge he's "deeply ashamed."

"I make no excuses. I broke the law. I pled guilty to a crime and now I must pay for my actions," Sidoo said.

(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)