Former Delaware State official pleads guilty to taking bribes for tuition breaks

For four years, a Delaware State University employee took bribes to give students a break on their tuition, according to statements in federal court in Wilmington Wednesday. 

Crystal Martin, a former registrar at the Dover-based public university, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a single felony as part of a scheme that prosecutors estimate cost the school $3 million over four years. 

Martin, 35, described the arrangement in court Tuesday. She said a co-conspirator would bring her students to be reclassified as in-state residents when, in fact, they should have been registered as out-of-state residents.

In-state tuition is $7,868 for spring and fall semesters. Out-of-state students pay $16,904. 

Martin would forge forms to reclassify the students as in-state in return for bribes ranging from $300 to $600, she told the court.

She told Delaware District Court Judge Richard Andrews the scheme involved more than 100 students.

Prosecutors estimated she made $85,000 off the grift. Martin's attorney said the number was closer to $50,000. She declined to comment after the plea hearing. 

Prosecutors said the cost to the university exceeded $3 million between 2013 and 2017. 

"Delaware taxpayers have the right to expect honest services from our public employees," said U.S. Attorney David Weiss in a written statement issued after the hearing. "When those employees fall short of these expectations my office will hold them accountable.”  

Her co-conspirator was not named in court or in court documents. A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware did not immediately know if the person has been charged. 

Court documents also do not name the university that employed Martin. Prosecutors have declined to name the school and court documents refer to the institution as "university A." 

Martin's LinkedIn profile lists her job experience as an adjunct professor, associate registrar and associate director of Records and Registration at DSU. A university spokesman said she no longer works at the school and declined further comment. 

It is unclear if any action will be taken pertaining to the students who benefited from her crime.

Martin, who told the court she holds two master's degrees and is working on her doctorate in educational leadership, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of accepting a bribe as an agent of a program that receives federal money. 

She faces a maximum of 10 years in prison when sentenced in July. 

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.

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