Bribes for Grades

Sometimes you just need money. The New York Times (Aug 5) has this story:

One math lesson Prof. Edward C. Ennels taught at Baltimore City Community College was, according to prosecutors, pretty simple: $150 for a C; $250 for a B; and $500 for an A.

. . . Over the course of seven months last year, Mr. Ennels, 45, solicited bribes from 112 students, and received 10 payments from nine students, totaling $2,815, the Maryland attorney general, Brian E. Frosh, said in a statement on Thursday.

In another scheme, Mr. Ennels sold online access codes that enabled students to view instructional material and complete assignments, prosecutors said. From 2013 to 2020, he sold 694 access codes for about $90 each.

They didn't add up the selling of access codes. It comes to $62,460. So he was doing this for 8 years. I'm deducing that it was the selling of grades that tripped him up and not the selling of access codes. Maybe students just thought this was an additional fee such as buying books? 

The excuse? He had a gambling addiction and in fact didn't live a "lavish lifestyle." I'm not sure that one could live a lavish lifestyle on $65,000 over 8 years.