A former Delaware State University official admitted to taking over $70,000 in bribes to cut down the tuition costs of out-of-state students, Bloomberg reports. Crystal Martin, a registrar at the school, pleaded guilty to bribery and now faces up to 10 years in prison for allowing out-of-state students to be eligible for in-state tuition in exchange for a bribe. Out-of-state students at the school pay $16,904 in tuition, which is more than double the $7,868 in-state tuition cost. Martin reportedly operated the bribery scheme over a four-year period, costing the school an estimated $3 million. “The defendant abused her position at a public university to personally profit and to defraud her employer,’’ U.S. Attorney David Weiss said in a statement. “Individuals who accept bribes while serving in a public capacity risk undermining trust in those institutions.’’ A DSU spokesman told Bloomberg Martin worked at the school until March 2017 and had no further comment. Martin's public defender reportedly did not respond to requests for comment.
