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Alleged Harvard con artist also won admission to Stanford

E-mail|Link|Comments () June 9, 2010 01:55 PM

By John R. Ellement and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Adam B. Wheeler, the young man from a small Delaware town who allegedly scammed his way into Harvard, also won admission to another top-flight school, Stanford University in California, according to court documents filed in Wheeler's case.

Adam B. Wheeler

Wheeler was admitted to Stanford as a transfer student after being dismissed from Harvard, the documents said.

Prosecutors said in the documents filed in Middlesex Superior Court that an investigator spoke to Richard Shaw, dean of undergraudate admissions at the Palo Alto university and learned that Wheeler had applied and was admitted as a transfer student junior for the 2010-2011 school year. Stanford has since rescinded its offer, the documents said.

Wheeler, 23, of Milton, Del., who is being held in lieu of $5,000 bail, is accused of weaving a web of lies to con his way into Harvard.

He was indicted last month on charges of larceny and identity fraud. Prosecutors say he received more than $45,000 in grants, scholarships, and financial aid based on his lies.

After his alleged cons were discovered and he was dismissed from Harvard in October, Wheeler allegedly submitted a falsified application for an internship at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School's psychiatric hospital.

Prosecutors had said earlier that after Wheeler left Harvard he had also submitted transfer applications to Yale and Brown universities. Yale officials say he was not accepted. Brown officials have not commented. The court documents reviewed by the Globe today showed that Stanford was also on his list -- and were receptive to his application.

The documents also revealed that during the same period, Wheeler had submitted an application to Williams College's Seaport Maritime Studies program at Mystic, Conn. A Williams spokesman didn't immediately return an email seeking comment.