There has been a very secret play by the U.S. Attorney to get more parents to plead guilty in the college admissions scandal, and what's especially interesting is that prosecutors are putting the squeeze on people who haven't even been charged with a crime.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, parents who hired ringleader Rick Singer received grand jury subpoenas recently for various documents that could lead to an indictment. Lawyers for the parents got in touch with the U.S. Attorney, who threatened to indict the parents in a similar fashion to Felicity Huffman, Lori Loughlin and dozens of others.
We're told the lawyers and prosecutors are either in the process of negotiating a guilty plea or have already negotiated it, even before any criminal charges are filed. We're told the U.S. Attorney will file criminal complaints and the parents will immediately plead guilty.
It's unclear how many parents have folded under the pressure, but at least several have.
And, other sources tell TMZ, a number of new indictments are coming down the pipeline and some involve USC. Our sources say scores of parents -- scores and scores -- have already lawyered up fearing they'll be indicted.