Judge Jails Ex-Harvard English Major Convicted re Application Lies for Putting Harvard on New Resume
It appears that a series of alleged omissions and lies on college applications, as well as claimed plagiarism on at least one prestigious scholarship application, has finally caught up with Adam Wheeler.
Kicked out of Harvard University in 2009 after this history came to light, he was criminally charged in Massachusetts, convicted of identity fraud and other charges and sentenced to more than two years in jail and a decade of probation. However, most of his sentence was suspended, and he only had to serve a month in jail while awaiting trial, the Associated Press reports.
But now the 25-year-old is being held without bail in Massachusetts, having lost his job at a Boston nonprofit in July and listed Harvard on his resume and cover letter to a potential employer, as his attorney acknowledges. The prosecution in the Woburn case is expected to seek to revoke his probation at a hearing next week, since one condition was that he could not represent himself as either a Harvard student or a Harvard graduate, according to the AP and the Harvard Crimson.
At a hearing today, a judge cited the gravity of the possible sentence he is facing and his “mental health status” as reasons for refusing bail.
“He obviously made a mistake,” said defense attorney Steven Sussman of Wheeler’s use of the Harvard name on his resume.
Additional coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Harvard English Major Criminally Charged Over Alleged Trail of Lies & Plagiarism”
ABAJournal.com: “Harvard English Major Criminally Charged re Claimed Lies & Cheats Also Got Into Stanford”
