Baltimore Math Professor Who Sold Grades for Cash Gets One Year in Jail

One mathematics acquisition Prof. Edward C. Ennels taught astatine Baltimore City Community College was, according to prosecutors, beauteous simple: $150 for a C; $250 for a B; and $500 for an A.

And successful immoderate courses, an A could spell for arsenic small arsenic $300.

Over the people of 7 months past year, Mr. Ennels, 45, solicited bribes from 112 students, and received 10 payments from 9 students, totaling $2,815, the Maryland lawyer general, Brian E. Frosh, said successful a connection connected Thursday.

In different scheme, Mr. Ennels sold online entree codes that enabled students to presumption instructional worldly and implicit assignments, prosecutors said. From 2013 to 2020, helium sold 694 entree codes for astir $90 each.

Mr. Ennels, a prof astatine the assemblage for 15 years who served connected the module senate’s Ethics and Institutional Integrity Committee, pleaded blameworthy connected Thursday successful Baltimore County Circuit Court to 11 misdemeanor charges, including bribery and misconduct successful office, according to prosecutors and online tribunal records.

He was sentenced to 10 years successful situation with each but 1 twelvemonth of the word suspended and to beryllium served successful a section jail. He was besides ordered to wage $60,000 successful restitution and volition beryllium connected probation for 5 years upon his release.

Mr. Frosh said successful his connection that Mr. Ennels employed “an elaborate transgression strategy to instrumentality vantage of his students,” including utilizing aggregate aliases to fell his identity.

In March 2020, Mr. Ennels sent an email utilizing 1 of his aliases, “Bertie Benson,” to different of his aliases, “Amanda Wilbert,” prosecutors said successful a statement. In the email, “Benson” offered to implicit “Wilbert’s” mathematics assignments, guaranteeing her an A for $300, prosecutors said.

Then, arsenic “Wilbert,” Mr. Ennels forwarded that email to 112 students enrolled successful a people that helium was teaching, prosecutors said. “Ennels often haggled with students regarding the magnitude of the bribe, and acceptable antithetic prices based connected the people and people desired,” according to the statement.

Most students declined to wage the bribes and Mr. Ennels “often persisted, offering to little the magnitude of the bribe oregon offering outgo plans,” according to the statement.

According to the statement, 1 pupil rebuffed the $500 solicitation for an A by saying: “Oh I don’t person that sorry. I volition beryllium definite to support studying and walk my exam.” Mr. Ennels’s response, according to prosecutors: “How overmuch tin you afford?”

That pupil yet paid a bribe, according to prosecutors, who did not accidental however overmuch that peculiar pupil paid.

A telephone connection near astatine the Baltimore City Community College, which has astir 14,000 students, galore from the Baltimore City area, was not instantly returned Thursday night.

Benjamin J. Herbst, a lawyer for Mr. Ennels said successful an interrogation connected Thursday nighttime that Mr. Ennels did what helium did “only to support up with a gambling addiction” and was “in nary mode motivated” by greed. He did not unrecorded a lavish manner oregon squirrel the wealth distant for later, Mr. Herbst said.

“He’s a bully person, helium loved his job, helium loved his students,” helium said of Mr. Ennels. “He’ll determination past this.”

Alain Delaquérière contributed research.