Adam Wheeler, Harvard Faker, Sentenced To Prison

WOBURN, Mass. — A Delaware man who faked his way into Harvard has been sentenced to a year in prison for violating his probation by putting the university on his resume.

A probation department spokeswoman says Adam Wheeler was sentenced Friday at Middlesex Superior Court.

Prosecutors say the 25-year-old Wheeler got into Harvard and obtained about $45,000 in financial aid by falsely claiming he attended elite schools, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Last year, he was convicted of identity fraud and sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison and 10 years' probation. The Milton, Del., man served a month in jail awaiting trial, and the remainder of his sentence was suspended.

His attorney acknowledged that Wheeler violated probation by representing himself as a Harvard graduate. But he said it was due to financial pressure after losing his job.

Comments

[Goldie Treasure]

09:45 AM on 12/29/2011

His eyes are kinda creepy.

[stjoshy]

07:54 PM on 12/27/2011

hahaha i wish i was that smart/stupid.. however u slice it. this caption to the pic should be something like "yeah ima astronaut and i helped pen the bible, what of it??" bahahaha. cookie monster approves of this type of "crime"

[ricchh]

01:01 PM on 12/27/2011

I thought this article was going to be about George Bush.

[rewith85man]

11:58 PM on 12/27/2011

That's a good one.

[mira chancleta]

09:36 AM on 12/27/2011

Prison? Really?

And Wall Street thieves continue buying more vacation homes
and ordering more Bentleys and BMWs?

Yeah, what he did is reprehensible and dishonest, but jail?
Try probation for a couple of years, community service?

I guess the kazillions of dollars sprinkled on Wall Street for crashing our ENTIRE economy, did pay off...for some.

While for the rest of America it meant foreclosures, pink slips, empty pension funds, family disintegration, robbed college funds, homelessness, losing health insurance, suicide.

Oh yeah, no prison for these sterling Americans.

[cb3cb3]

09:42 PM on 12/28/2011

He not only lied the first time, but violated his probation by putting Harvard on his resume!

[Norge]

09:02 AM on 12/29/2011

Oh my god, he wanted to go to harvard that badly. That hellalua place only worthy of those who never lie and have never lied and the likes of the wall street professionals of big cons. He was smart but not smart enough to not get caught and that was his only mistake. True gangsters do not get caught and get all the degrees along with PhDs.

[mater]

04:36 AM on 12/27/2011

I think some probation and community service might have taught this young man more about the world. Being poor is hard enough; being poor and smart is a Bi***.

[cb3cb3]

09:42 PM on 12/28/2011

He already got probation and violated it by putting Harvard on his resume after he caught

[mater]

04:13 AM on 12/29/2011

did not know that. Well, then...

[rob roy]

11:24 PM on 12/26/2011

Napalm came from Harvard. Veritas!

[antaeus]

02:31 AM on 12/27/2011

The best and the brightest ;-)

[matt gordon]

10:17 PM on 12/26/2011

One hopes all apps for admission are scrutinized more closely after a debacle like this one. Yikes.

[Howard53545]

05:40 AM on 12/26/2011

Now you are going to the slammer dude

[Common Sense Patriot]

06:56 PM on 12/24/2011

I have little sympathy for people who commit fraud or misrepresent their academic achievement. However, regardless of the innocence or guilt of this particular individual, the fact remains that we have 13.3 million people unemployed - a number that does not include recent college graduates. The jobless number spikes to almost 23 million if you count people who have grown discouraged and given up looking for work (1,1 million) , those forced to work part-time (8.5 million), or employed as temporary workers with no benefits. The real unemployment rate is 15.6%. Yet, for workers with a college degree, the rate is only 4.3%, which tells anyone with any sense at all that a college education is more important than it has ever been. High paying jobs that do not require a college education have almost disappeared. High paying manufacturing jobs will never come back due to the economic realities of a global labor market and increases in productivity. Workers with a bachelor’s degree, on average, earn about $1 million more over a lifetime than those with only a high school diploma. Yet the cost of college is skyrocketing. Public four-year universities charged an average of $8,244, up 8.3% from 2010. Include room and board and the average l now runs more than $17,000 a year. So, aside from this particular case, it is clear that gaining a college education is paramount to solving the unemployment problem and helping Americans find well paying jobs.

[Goldie Treasure]

04:46 PM on 12/24/2011

How incredible can harvard be if people can sneak in so easily.

[michelv]

03:08 PM on 12/26/2011

Hint: "admission officer" is not something that many bright people aspire to be.

[CAPiITAIN]

09:35 AM on 12/24/2011

And not one BANKSTER goes to prison. NICE INJUSTICE SYSTEM.

[corwin]

09:58 PM on 12/24/2011

Yes,but let me tell you some things that may make you happier. Sen Chris Dodd had to give up his seat after evidence of special financial favors became public.Rep BArney Frank who protected fannie and freddie while theyexpanded the bubble declined to run after he lost his 'safe' voting boundaries. Fmr Sen (and Gov) jon Corzine is being investigated for a 1..2 billion disappearance ( "Where'd it go ?" ). Many Fannie and Freddie execs have been indicted.And Franklin Raines is probably next
I think the pres would like to go after some bankers,but for one reason or another it never happens. But,with the DOJ going Republican next year things will change

[meatballs3for7]

03:12 PM on 12/28/2011

Notice how all are "accused" and "investigated", but have any actually gone to jail?

[Y3rMawm]

01:23 AM on 12/24/2011

Wow. how many bankers an politicians are in jail for extorting trillions of dollars from US taxpayers?

[Vapula]

12:09 AM on 12/24/2011

"...he said it was due to financial pressure after losing his job." So it's OK to fake your qualifications and commit a crime if you lose your job? I don't think so.

[Chia Shrek]

07:54 AM on 12/24/2011

folks misrepresenting themselves in a perverted society, one where the end justifies the means, provided you don't get caught.

[corwin]

09:59 PM on 12/24/2011

True. the president claims he entered Harvard without affirmative action.Go figure.

[stanschurman]

11:25 PM on 12/23/2011

The article says nothing about how he was doing in Harvard. It doesn't say much for that hallowed institution if this guy could "fake" his way in. George Bush faked his way into two hallowed universities and they elected him President twice...whoops...sorry.. once.

[widcirc]

07:25 PM on 12/24/2011

He was receiving mostly C's and D's . . . he got caught when he doctored his resume and transcript when applying for the Harvard endorsement for the Rhodes Scholarship, he basically copied the CV of a professor and altered his transcript to say he had a 4.0 despite having been placed on academic probation

[corwin]

10:02 PM on 12/24/2011

Diffidently, I have to point out i can document Sen Biden's having claimed he graduated in the 'top halfd' of his law school class. (He was 76th of 85.Even Dems aren't so bad in arithmetic.Oh,wait..)
Can you document this circ?
Because,if not, I'm going to have to accuse you of being a Liberal Arts major,living in your folks basement

[FreeRange]

09:21 PM on 12/23/2011

Wow, and bankers got off without even a day in jail as they pillaged the country. This guy tried to go to school.