Delaware man who faked way into Harvard violates parole

The Delaware man who faked his way into Harvard University is back in jail for violating the conditions of his parole, according to the Harvard Crimson.

He was ordered to a Middlesex County jail in Massachusetts after he was caught submitting a resume for a job, which included Harvard as one of the schools he attended.  A condition for his probation last spring after pleading guilty last year was that he avoid any reference to his connection with Harvard.

The Crimson reports Wheeler’s attorney Susan Sussman asked that Wheeler not be sent to prison because he was in a fragile state.  Sussman was quoted by the paper saying Wheeler shouldn’t go to prison because he needed to work to continue paying his rent and the $45,806 in restitution for tuition to Harvard as part of his guilty plea.  He had been working in low paying manual labor jobs up until now.  She said Wheeler was receiving psychological therapy.

Wheeler’s parents from Sussex County were in court today, but did not comment on the appearance of their son.  Wheeler’s deception unraveled in May 2009.  He had applied to Yale University and when that school started to check on his credentials it was shown that he had lied.  Wheeler had put MIT and the prestigious Andover Academy in Massachusetts as previous educational stops.  He had graduated from high school in Delaware and for a time attended college in Maine.