Man Guilty of Giving Bogus College Degrees
- Share via
An Orange County man pleaded guilty Monday to mail fraud for running a “diploma mill” offering degrees from a nonexistent university.
Ronald Pellar, 75, pleaded guilty to nine counts of mail fraud in a Santa Ana courtroom before U.S. District Judge Alicemarie Stotler, Assistant U.S. Atty. Donald Gaffney told City News Service.
Pellar faces a maximum term of 45 years in federal prison, Gaffney said, but prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of five years in prison and payment of a $2.2-million fine and about $2 million in restitution.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
On screen, Errol Flynn played a series of daredevils, fortune hunters, and suave romantics. Off screen, he lived a life of outsize debauchery and recklessness, including a persistent interest in underage girls. In 1943, at the height of his fame, he faced trial in Los Angeles on charges of statutory rape.
In our first episode, the L.A. Times columnist George Skelton sizes up the governors he’s known, what made them successful and whether the next one can measure up.
How do you get more people to care about climate change — and tell riveting stories along the way? Boiling Point explored that question at a live event during this year’s New York City Climate Week at Columbia University’s Climate School.
