Laguna Beach parent pleads guilty in college admissions scandal

Developer and Laguna Beach resident Robert Flaxman was among three California parents who pleaded guilty Friday to fraud conspiracy and admitted their roles in a test-fixing and bribery scheme.

The proceedings wrapped up an early string of guilty pleas for federal prosecutors in their investigation of a national college admissions cheating scandal involving Newport Beach consultant William “Rick” Singer.

Flaxman, 62, admitted paying $75,000 to doctor his daughter’s ACT score.

Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts recommend that Flaxman be sentenced at the low end of an eight- to 14-month range, according to his plea agreement and federal sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors also recommend that he be fined $40,000.

Flaxman is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 18.

Singer has admitted to committing an array of fraud and money laundering offenses and is awaiting sentencing.

As he faked students’ resumes, college admissions scandal mastermind appears to have fudged his credentials too »

The others who pleaded guilty Friday were Jane Buckingham, 50, a Los Angeles marketing executive, and Marjorie Klapper, 50, a jeweler and Menlo Park resident.

With the three pleading guilty, prosecutors have tied up all but one of the 14 guilty pleas they negotiated from 33 parents charged in March. Toby MacFarlane, a title insurance executive from Del Mar, is expected to plead guilty June 21.

The remaining 19 parents, including actress Lori Loughlin, have pleaded not guilty. After negotiations with prosecutors foundered, they were indicted on charges of money laundering conspiracy in addition to the fraud conspiracy offense with which they were initially charged.

Matthew Ormseth writes for the Los Angeles Times.

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