Diploma Mill
Two years ago Bill Morlin of The Spokesman-Review broke a major story about a diploma mill ring based in Spokane. Morlin stayed on the story as a federal task force investigated the ring and eight members pleaded guilty to federal crimes. But Justice Department officials refused to release the list of buyers who used the phony and counterfeit degrees to get jobs and promotions. Undaunted, The Spokesman-Review obtained the list and released the names. Here's an excerpt from "Buyers of Bogus Degrees Named":
Hundreds of people working in the military, government and education are on a list of almost 10,000 people who spent $7.3 million buying phony and counterfeit high school and college degrees from a Spokane diploma mill….
The list includes NASA employee Timothy Francis Gorman, who bought an electrical engineering degree using his e-mail account at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to correspond with the diploma mill, and U.S. Department of Health oncology expert Frank S. Govern, who purchased a doctorate in health care administration.
National Security Agency employees David W. Barden and Barry A. Hester both bought degrees. Hester, who was a computer Web trainer and designer for the NSA with top-secret clearance, paid $1,187 for an information systems and technology degree, the list shows.
Eric Gregory Cole, who was a contract employee for the Central Intelligence Agency, paid $3,801 for a degree in information systems management. His top-secret clearance at the CIA was revoked late last year, months after his name was forwarded to the Office of Inspector General, according to one source.
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/local/story.asp?ID=251844
http://spokesmanreview.com/breaking/story.asp?ID=15898