Former Del. Public Officer pleads guilty in bribery case

WILMINGTON, Del. – A former Associate Registrar at Delaware State University pled guilty on Wednesday to a charge of bribery regarding programs receiving federal funds.

According to court documents, between 2013 and 2017, Crystal Martin accepted bribes from a co-conspirator in exchange for her agreement to change the registration status of hundreds of out-of-state students, allowing them to qualify for in-state tuition. Martin also allegedly used forged residency documents prepared by her co-conspirator to enable these students to pay reduced tuition when she knew they should be paying the higher rate for out-of-state students, which is more than two times the in-state rate.

Documents state that the out-of-state students paid either Martin or her co-conspirator for this fraudulent service. Martin personally collected more than $70,000 in bribe payments during the course of this scheme, and the estimated cost to the university of reduced tuition payments during the four year period exceeds $3 million.

47 ABC reached out to DSU for comment, but were told they are not commenting because it’s ongoing litigation. However, they have confirmed that the defendant was an associate registrar and her employment at DSU ceased in March 2017.

Martin is scheduled for sentencing on July 1, 2019, and faces a maximum of ten years behind bars.