Talk about a poorly executed business model. And the parents didn't think it was serious enough for police action. He even subbed for a girl, which I suppose in this day and age of cross dressing didn't alarm the test proctors.
Cops: 7 arrested in SAT test-taking scheme
Cops: 7 arrested in SAT test-taking scheme
DA: Same handwriting busted SAT cheaters
Originally published: September 27, 2011 3:04 PM
Updated: September 27, 2011 5:25 PM
By ANN GIVENS [email protected]
Sam Eshaghoff of [Great Neck] posted awesome SAT scores again and again, whatever name he happened to use on test day, authorities said, but he did not change his handwriting.
That lapse and other red flags unraveled a cheating scandal at Great Neck North High School, in which students paid Eshaghoff thousands of dollars to impersonate them, take the test and get high scores in their names, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Eshaghoff, 19, of Great Neck, is a 2010 Great Neck North High graduate. He and six other students -- who allegedly paid Eshaghoff for his services in 2010 and 2011 -- have been arrested so far, and prosecutors said the investigation is not over.
Eshaghoff, who was arrested Tuesday, was charged with first-degree scheme to defraud, first-degree falsifying business records and second-degree criminal impersonation. He enrolled as a freshman at the University of Michigan but now attends Emory University.
Prosecutors said he accepted payments of $1,500 to $2,500 to take each test and used the cash to pay for his gym membership and other items.
The six students arrested Tuesday who allegedly hired Eshaghoff, all from Great Neck, face misdemeanor charges. They were under 19 when the alleged crimes happened and are not being identified because of their ages and the nature of their alleged crimes, prosecutors said.
Eshaghoff pleaded not guilty and Tuesday was held on $1,000 bond or $500 bail. He is due back in court Oct. 11. His mother left court without comment. The courtroom was sealed for the arraignments of the six students. All left court without comment, coats draped over their heads.
The SAT is used to determine college and university admissions. There are three component sections, critical reading, math and writing, and a perfect score is 2400. The lowest score Eshaghoff posted for one of the six was 2140, according to prosecutors, and the highest 2220.
"These are serious allegations," Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said. "There's no level playing field when students are paying someone they know will get them a premiere score when other kids are doing it the fair way and the honest way."
Eshaghoff's lawyer, Matin Emouna, questioned whether the district attorney's office should have gotten involved.
"Even assuming whether what they say is true," he said, "at what point is the DA's office going to draw the line with cheating in Nassau County? This is a matter that should have been dealt with administratively within the school."
Kevin Keating, a Garden City attorney who represents one of the six students, also questioned the value of the prosecution: "No one condones cheating, but what's next? A taxpayer-funded arrest of the freckle-faced kid who looks over his schoolmate's shoulder?"
Prosecutors said that early this year, teachers at Great Neck North High School heard rumors that students had paid someone to take the SAT for them. They then reviewed the records of students who had taken the test at a different school and focused on those who had large discrepancies between their academic performance records and SAT scores.
Educational Testing Service, the nonprofit organization that administers the test, also began an investigation, and prosecutors said they were able to match the handwriting on all six tests to Eshaghoff.
ETS does not notify colleges or high schools when students are suspected of cheating, but cancels their scores and offers suspected cheaters a refund, a free retest or the opportunity to arbitrate, prosecutors said.
Tom Ewing, a spokesman for ETS, said ETS and the College Board commended the district attorney's office for the investigation and said the agencies appreciated "the efforts of school officials at Great Neck High School North to expose test-taking irregularities in order to ensure that all students are afforded a level playing field on which to perform."
Prosecutors said the students registered to take the test at a different school so no one would know that Eshaghoff was not them. Eshaghoff used unofficial identification featuring the student's name but his own photo, prosecutors said.
Eshaghoff also took the test at no charge for a female student, prosecutors said. They said the girl's name was either not sex-specific or foreign and those administering the test may not have picked up on the discrepancy, although Eshaghoff did check the "female" box.
Eshaghoff flew home from college at least once to take the test twice in one weekend, prosecutors said.
Officials are investigating whether a similar SAT-taking scam may have occurred at two other Nassau County high schools. "This is not an isolated incident," Rice said.
Great Neck North High School said in a statement that it is cooperating with law enforcement and does not tolerate cheating.
The school is one of the top academic high schools in the nation. Alumni include David Baltimore, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist; filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola; and Olympic figure skating champion Sarah Hughes.
With John Hildebrandand Will Van Sant
Originally published: September 27, 2011 3:04 PM
Updated: September 27, 2011 5:25 PM
By ANN GIVENS [email protected]
Sam Eshaghoff of [Great Neck] posted awesome SAT scores again and again, whatever name he happened to use on test day, authorities said, but he did not change his handwriting.
That lapse and other red flags unraveled a cheating scandal at Great Neck North High School, in which students paid Eshaghoff thousands of dollars to impersonate them, take the test and get high scores in their names, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Eshaghoff, 19, of Great Neck, is a 2010 Great Neck North High graduate. He and six other students -- who allegedly paid Eshaghoff for his services in 2010 and 2011 -- have been arrested so far, and prosecutors said the investigation is not over.
Eshaghoff, who was arrested Tuesday, was charged with first-degree scheme to defraud, first-degree falsifying business records and second-degree criminal impersonation. He enrolled as a freshman at the University of Michigan but now attends Emory University.
Prosecutors said he accepted payments of $1,500 to $2,500 to take each test and used the cash to pay for his gym membership and other items.
The six students arrested Tuesday who allegedly hired Eshaghoff, all from Great Neck, face misdemeanor charges. They were under 19 when the alleged crimes happened and are not being identified because of their ages and the nature of their alleged crimes, prosecutors said.
Eshaghoff pleaded not guilty and Tuesday was held on $1,000 bond or $500 bail. He is due back in court Oct. 11. His mother left court without comment. The courtroom was sealed for the arraignments of the six students. All left court without comment, coats draped over their heads.
The SAT is used to determine college and university admissions. There are three component sections, critical reading, math and writing, and a perfect score is 2400. The lowest score Eshaghoff posted for one of the six was 2140, according to prosecutors, and the highest 2220.
"These are serious allegations," Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said. "There's no level playing field when students are paying someone they know will get them a premiere score when other kids are doing it the fair way and the honest way."
Eshaghoff's lawyer, Matin Emouna, questioned whether the district attorney's office should have gotten involved.
"Even assuming whether what they say is true," he said, "at what point is the DA's office going to draw the line with cheating in Nassau County? This is a matter that should have been dealt with administratively within the school."
Kevin Keating, a Garden City attorney who represents one of the six students, also questioned the value of the prosecution: "No one condones cheating, but what's next? A taxpayer-funded arrest of the freckle-faced kid who looks over his schoolmate's shoulder?"
Prosecutors said that early this year, teachers at Great Neck North High School heard rumors that students had paid someone to take the SAT for them. They then reviewed the records of students who had taken the test at a different school and focused on those who had large discrepancies between their academic performance records and SAT scores.
Educational Testing Service, the nonprofit organization that administers the test, also began an investigation, and prosecutors said they were able to match the handwriting on all six tests to Eshaghoff.
ETS does not notify colleges or high schools when students are suspected of cheating, but cancels their scores and offers suspected cheaters a refund, a free retest or the opportunity to arbitrate, prosecutors said.
Tom Ewing, a spokesman for ETS, said ETS and the College Board commended the district attorney's office for the investigation and said the agencies appreciated "the efforts of school officials at Great Neck High School North to expose test-taking irregularities in order to ensure that all students are afforded a level playing field on which to perform."
Prosecutors said the students registered to take the test at a different school so no one would know that Eshaghoff was not them. Eshaghoff used unofficial identification featuring the student's name but his own photo, prosecutors said.
Eshaghoff also took the test at no charge for a female student, prosecutors said. They said the girl's name was either not sex-specific or foreign and those administering the test may not have picked up on the discrepancy, although Eshaghoff did check the "female" box.
Eshaghoff flew home from college at least once to take the test twice in one weekend, prosecutors said.
Officials are investigating whether a similar SAT-taking scam may have occurred at two other Nassau County high schools. "This is not an isolated incident," Rice said.
Great Neck North High School said in a statement that it is cooperating with law enforcement and does not tolerate cheating.
The school is one of the top academic high schools in the nation. Alumni include David Baltimore, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist; filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola; and Olympic figure skating champion Sarah Hughes.
With John Hildebrandand Will Van Sant