Rick Singer, mastermind of the "Varsity Blues" college cheating scandal, sentenced to 3.5 years in prison

The man prosecutors call the "architect and mastermind" of the nationwide college admissions bribery scheme that ensnared celebrities, prominent businesspeople and other parents who used their wealth and privilege to buy their kids' way into top-tier schools was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison Wednesday.

The punishment for Rick Singer, 62, is the longest sentence handed down in the sprawling scandal that embarrassed some of the nation's most prestigious universities and put a spotlight on the secretive admissions system already seen as rigged in favor of the rich.

Federal prosecutors had asked for six years behind bars for Singer.

Minutes after the sentence was handed down, Rachael Rollins, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said Singer had "finally been held accountable."

"It was clear this case would change the way colleges and universities do business — and it certainly did," Rollins said.