Rick Singer, convicted of orchestrating the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal, continued to advise prospective students on their college applications while serving a federal prison sentence in Florida and now works at a California retreat.

Singer, 64, a former college admissions consultant who pleaded guilty in 2019 to facilitating bribes between wealthy parents and elite universities in exchange for their children's enrollment, told ABC News that he began recruiting students after his last conviction free advice every year.

Then, last recording season, while at a federal prison camp in Pensacola, Florida, Singer said, “The coolest thing that ever happened.”

“A young man emailed me and asked, 'Could you help me with my applications and tell me if I could get into these schools?'” Singer told ABC News during a sit-down interview.

The applicant sent Singer his high school transcript and a list of his transcripts. Singer, whose advice was once sought by high-ranking executives and Hollywood actors, wrote back and offered a few pointers. The student was accepted into his top school in March, Singer said.

This summer, Singer launched a new company called ID Future Stars, a consulting firm that boasts an 80% to 96% acceptance rate into top-choice schools. According to the website“Our success speaks for itself.”

But his return to the world of college admissions could be challenging. Singer's reputation took a hit after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy, money laundering and obstruction of justice charges as part of the decades-long scheme that federal investigators called “Operation Varsity Blues.”

Federal prosecutors in Boston said Singer allowed $25 million to pass from families to college administrators and athletic trainers who allocated spots on their rosters to meet their fundraising goals. They said Singer transferred, spent or otherwise used more than $15 million for his own benefit.

“Everything the U.S. attorney said, the FBI said, and everyone else said I did, I did,” Singer told ABC.

But even four years later, Singer said the conspiracy amounted to a “victimless crime.”

News of the admissions scandal broke in 2019 when Andrew Lelling, the U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, announced the charges against Singer and over 50 others, including college coaches, test administrators and actors Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman.

The charge led to about 50 convictions and became the subject of at least four books, a Lifetime movie and a Netflix documentary.

In January 2023, a judge sentenced Singer to 42 months in federal prison. In August of this year, he was released to a halfway house near Los Angeles.

Singer said he ran a lucrative and reputable college consulting business for years. But that changed around 2011, when he realized he couldn't force some customers through the so-called “front door.” He had developed close bonds with the students and their families and wanted to do whatever he could to help them. That's why he developed a new approval system: the “side door”.

While Singer said much of his advice was always legitimate, he explained that the new program started with one student and soon expanded.

“There was a young man who was super talented and tried hard,” Singer said. But the student always performed poorly on SAT or ACT practice tests.

So he found a way to get the student's application to the top of the pile: He began bribing standardized test examiners to turn a blind eye to allowing cheating on the exams, prosecutors said.

“I knew it was wrong and I did it anyway,” Singer said. “What are 10, 12, 13 kids who are good students, good people, and that one score could take away their opportunity to go to a decent school? I thought about that.”

Soon after, the stakes grew. Singer was well-known in the world of higher education and said presidents of several prestigious universities had contacted him hoping his clients would donate millions of dollars to their schools.

He said he has started organizing meetings between the presidents and parents to discuss enrolling their children in the university. “Negotiations would go from whether the school is a good fit for the student to, ‘What does the president need? What does the family need? Would there be a note?'” he said, referring to a financial favor.

Singer, a former basketball coach, said he sympathizes with the coaches and the pressure they face to raise funds before their sports seasons. So he said he started arranging similar meetings between them and his clients. At times he faked the students' athletic qualifications in order to get their applications through.

“First I went to three or four trainers. Then all the coaches found out about it and the coaches called me every year,” Singer said.

“If they needed to raise $250,000 or $500,000 for the program, they would call me and say, ‘Hey, I have a spot. Do you have a family that would like to come here?'” he said.

Asked if he thought his plan prevented legitimate recruits from making a living on a college team, Singer said, “I'm just the facilitator and giving the coach that choice.”

On March 12, 2019, the day he was arraigned, Singer said he left the John Joseph Moakley Courthouse in Boston and looked at his phone.

He said he received 93 text messages in less than an hour. Most, Singer said, come from clients who were looking for serious advice and were wondering whether he could still meet with them for a consultation.