Professor busted on bribes

A computer science lab instructor at LaGuardia Community College was arraigned on a 137-count indictment for soliciting and accepting payment - ranging from cash payments of $200 to $2,500 or items of value, such as wine - from students to alter their class grades and inflate their academic records.
Elvin Escano, 46, of 70-10 65th Place in Glendale, who has been on paid sabbatical leave from LaGuardia Community College since September, has been charged with one count of grand larceny, 38 counts of falsifying business records, nineteen counts of offering a false instrument for filing, 38 counts of computer tampering, 19 counts of forgery, 19 counts of computer trespass, one count of official misconduct, one count of tampering with a witness and one count of conspiracy. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.
The arrest is the result of a six-month investigation conducted by the Queens District Attorney's Office in conjunction with the Public Safety Department of the City University of New York. The investigation began when an audit of school records conducted by CUNY officials disclosed discrepancies between grades posted by course instructors and registrar records at LaGuardia Community College. CUNY officials immediately referred the matter to the District Attorney's Investigations Division, which presented the matter to the grand jury.
According to the indictment, the defendant conspired with others to use his position as an instructor and lab technician at LaGuardia Community College between May 1, 2004 and September 21, 2006, to illegally alter students' grades for a variety of courses and exams - including the CUNY proficiency exam which all students are required to take and pass in order to graduate from associate degree programs or to transfer or advance to the upper division of a senior college - in exchange for cash payments or items of value, such as wine or alcohol. In at least one instance, a student allegedly used college financial aid funds to pay for the grade alteration.
The indictment charges that, among other things, as part of his scheme and to increase his profits, Escano recruited students as &#8220runners” to refer other students to his &#8220cash for grades” scam - in some cases, paying the runners with grade changes.
Escano, who was arrested following his arrival from the Dominican Republic, was ordered held on $100,000 bail and to surrender his U.S. passport to the District Attorney's office.
The case was adjourned to January 12, 2007.