A Cromwell man pleaded guilty Thursday and faces up to 20 years in federal prison for operating a diploma mill that took in $5 million selling fake degrees worldwide, federal prosecutors say.
James Enowitch, 48, of pleaded guilty before a Philadelphia federal judge to mail fraud and aiding and abetting mail fraud, the Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney’s office said.
Between 2003 and 2012, Enowitch profited more than $700,000 selling fake degrees from such “schools” as “Redding University,” “Suffield University,” “Glendale University,” “Greenwood University,” and “Bryson University,” investigators said.
“Those purported universities were actually diploma mills in that they had no faculty, offered no academic curricula or services, required no course or class work, and were not recognized by the United States Department of Education,” U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger said in a statement.
To promote his scheme, investigators said Enowitch created a fraudulent accrediting body— the “National Distance Learning Accreditation Council” — that was used to falsely claim that the diploma mills were “nationally accredited,” Memeger said.
For more money, buyers could also allegedly choose their grades for the phony courses included in their transcripts, he said.
Enowitch faces a maximum 20 years in prison, plus three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and an order of forfeiture.
