Vaghar's Plea Bargain Rejected

A Cambridge District Court judge rejected a proposed plea agreement and recommended jail time yesterday for a former Harvard Extension School student accused of scamming more than a dozen people out of tens of thousands of dollars.

Twenty-three-year-old Linda Vaghar, who had pleaded not guilty to five counts of larceny on Feb. 18, was expected to change her pleas to guilty as part of an agreement reached with the Assistant District Attorney in which Vaghar could have avoided jail time.

But yesterday, in Vaghar’s second appearance in court, Cambridge District Court Judge Severlin Singleton rejected the plea, instead saying that he wanted to impose a one year suspended sentence with a minimum of 60 days of jail time.

“We were disappointed that the judge didn’t accept the plea,” said Vaghar’s attorney Karen S. Shea. “The assistant D.A. had thought hard about it and I had thought hard about it, and we thought it was a reasonable agreement.”

Shea said the judge rejected the plea without providing a reason.

Vaghar—who, according to friends at Harvard, frequented finals clubs and the undergraduate social scene before leaving the Extension School—was also charged with eight new counts of larceny in her hearing yesterday. The new charges include seven new counts of larceny over $250—in addition to the original five—each of which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.

She is expected to next appear in court on April 7 for the pre-trial hearing for the new charges.

“The case is now moving forward as it would towards a regular trial,” said Middlesex District Attorney spokeswoman Melissa Sherman.

Vaghar, who was accompanied in court by both of her parents, is accused of running a complex real estate scam using made-up e-mail addresses and closed bank accounts in which she allegedly defrauded at least fifteen victims out of tens of thousands of dollars.

The alleged scam involved listing her Cambridge apartment for rent on Craigslist.org, convincing interested renters to pay her the first and last month’s rent, and then at the last minute making up sob stories—such as the death or sickness of one of her parents—to back out of the deal. The scam left victims struggling for months with a trail of excuses and bad checks in an effort to recover their money.

One alleged victim, Shannon S. Christmas ’04, who was present at yesterday’s hearing, said that he was relieved that the judge rejected the plea agreement.

“I’m glad the judge threw out the plea because she definitely needs a lot more time,” he said. “The stress that she caused me and my family definitely warrants her going to prison for some time, and I hope it does end up being that way.”

According to Sherman, the initial plea agreement would have given Vaghar a 30-day jail sentence suspended for two years—meaning that she would be on probation for two years, and only serve jail time if she violated her probation—on the condition that she be evaluated for alcohol, drug, and mental health issues, pay full restitution to all of the alleged victims, and plead guilty to every offense.

In her comments during the trial, Shea emphasized Vaghar’s rehabilitation.

“She wants to make good on her debts,” she said. “She has started going to counseling. She is trying to get her life on track.”

—Staff writer Reed B. Rayman can be reached at rrayman@fas.harvard.edu.