Academia, Criminal law

“The Great Pretender”: Northwestern Expels Law Student Months Before Graduation After Discovering Shocking Criminal Record In Texas

220px-Northwestern_University_Seal.svgThere is an interesting case at my alma mater, Northwestern University School of Law, where a former student is suing over his expulsion shortly before his graduation. The student is Mauricio Celis, 42, and he was expelled for not disclosing that he is a former felon in Texas who was convicted for falsely holding himself out as a lawyer as well as a misdemeanor conviction of portraying himself as a police officer in a bizarre case involving a woman who wandered nude from his hot tub and walked into a convenience store. Celis objects that Northwestern expelled him for the failure to disclose but that it never asked him to disclose any criminal history when he applied for his master of laws. After suing Northwestern, Celis and Northwestern agreed to a voluntary dismissal of the suit.

The case is obviously embarrassing for Northwestern which appeared to do no inquiry into the history of the applicant who was infamous in Texas and called “The Great Pretender.” Indeed, a prosecutor called him “the biggest con man in the history of Nueces County.” Before he was nabbed, he ran offices in eight cities, including Beverly Hills, Miami, and Mexico City. He was a major Democratic donor with contributions of nearly half a million dollars to Democratic political campaigns from 2002 to 2007.

His past difficulties include a long series of fraudulent representations, flashing a pistol during an argument with the owner of a local strip club, breaking into a girlfriend’s apartment and flashing an expired reserve deputy’s badge in three different encounters with police. Here is an account of the hot tub incident that gives a glimpse into Celis:

The position of Northwestern is that Celis should have known that his criminal history was material. Yet, the school did not require the information and took his money for the educational program. Indeed, he spent about $76,000 on the program and the school presumably kept the money and tossed him shortly before graduation.

The failure to even google the applicant shows how schools continue to rely on an “honors system” even among the top law programs in the country. Northwestern came within weeks of giving an advance degree to the “Great Pretender” of Texas.

Of course, the graduation would have made for a classic procession tune.

Source: Chicago Tribune

107 thoughts on ““The Great Pretender”: Northwestern Expels Law Student Months Before Graduation After Discovering Shocking Criminal Record In Texas”

  1. I agree that they cannot give a degree to someone who fraudulently posed as a lawyer before.

    However, they failed to do a background check. And one would think it is not the first time a felon con man has applied to law school.

    The problem is that they did not ask for disclosure of criminal history, he paid the tuition and put in the time, and now they withhold the degree.

    They need to issue him a refund, because “you should have known better” is not a defense.

  2. There is apparently a Stingray being operated by a Snowden type character and he/she has been stinging around Washington DC collecting “data”. Since data is innocuous there can be no crime here. This is what the government says is innocuous. But apparently there are revelations to be made shortly.

    I hope that someone like Greenwald can obtain some of this stuff and publish it in the Guardian.

  3. Exposing liars. I like that. Like the liars at the IRS who lost their e-mail.

    Mullah Obama, the President Nixon wanted to be, thinks HE has committed the perfect crime. He destroyed the e-mail of Lois Lerner and six other democrats and partners in crime…except he didn’t. There are electronic and paper trails that will lead to people and induce people to talk. Let’s start with the server and the legally mandated back-up data.

    The keystrokes will be in the possession of the NSA.

    Uh oh! That’s Susan “My Name Is Mudd” Rice, right?

    Mullah Obama is going to have to start playing really hard ball.

    Oops! He already did.

    Can you say Michael Hastings?

    May we live in interesting times.

  5. Exposing liars, yes indeed can be rewarding. Dishonorable people exist in all walks of life, even in professions in which honor and truthfulness are paramount.

  6. I never ceased to be amazed @ how people misrepresent themselves and how lax employers, schools, etc. are @ just doing basic background checks. People lie and they do so because they often get away w/ it. And, liars often dig in their heels like this guy. “Knowledge is power.” Exposing lies and liars is rewarding work, on several levels.

  7. That right there – is a demonstration of critical thinking by someone who says he made an “A” in a graduate school course on critical thinking.

    A mind is a terrible thing to waste – or, what a waste it is to lose one’s mind.

    Yep, and I’ve heard the walk and talk cliche a few million times myself.

    Go Annie.

    “Imagination is more important than intelligence”. A. Einstein

  9. Here is a Wikipedia article on Stingray devices which steal cell phone private information from your dumbphone:

    A stingray is a controversial[1] electronic surveillance device for remotely capturing data from mobile telephones.[2] It is designed to mimic a cell tower so all the mobile phones in the area communicate with it and provide information, including location data. This can be done even when the phone is not being used to make a call.[2][3] Critics have called the use of the devices by government agencies warrantless cell phone tracking, as they have frequently been used without informing the court system or obtaining a warrant.[1] The Electronic Frontier Foundation has called the devices “an unconstitutional, all-you-can-eat data buffet.”[4] A stingray can be carried by hand or mounted on a vehicle, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle.[3] The devices are also referred to as “cell site simulators” and “IMSI catchers.”

  11. annie – weren’t those the same prosecutors that the court shut down for being on a fishing expedition? I hear they talk the talk but cannot walk the walk.

  12. The Supreme Court did NOT issue an opinion on the two cell phone cases today. Other blogs report that Justice Alito’s law clerk’s smartphone was somehow intercepted and that Alito was talking to national security people about cell phone seizures and how its ok for cops to seize a cell phone when they pull over someone for an expired plate.

  14. Paul, I just checked the Mayo Clinic and National Institute of Mental Health’s websites and they agree with you. I think I was only looking at the depressive symptoms for some reason. You win the argument. That said, to have sex with hundreds of people each year leaves little time for a depressive phase. Perhaps Plath lived mostly in the manic phase.

    However, the one thing (the only thing) I agree with Tom Cruise on is psychology, that it is largely a farce. It wasn’t long ago that frontal lobotomies, electroshock therapy, and hot/cold water treatments were accepted practice. And yet psychologists have this condescending attitude of knowing everything.

    I do not believe in sex addicts or hyper-sexuality. Those people simply make a choice and never think of the consequences. Our PC society makes excuses for them, just as we do for people who drive while drunk.

    1. saucy – I had a friend (she died this year) who was bipolar and we used to worry about her as much in her manic phases as her depressive phases. When she was manic she went through guys like tissue paper. She finally got on meds that evened her out, but she really was a different person.

  16. LaserDLiquidator brings up a valid argument: Anyone who pays is entitled to education. From one perspective I agree with this. Creating arbitrary barriers to individuals greatly limits their entry into academics resulting in less opportunities in life.

    Another perspective is that there are limited enrollment slots and some limitations on enrollments are pragmatically needed. Past academic performance is one generally accepted by most. Yet in this case it was due to felony convictions, barritry, and crimes involving fraud. In most states that would be a disqualifier to becoming a lawyer. So essentially allowing a person to attend the university when in the end he/she will not become a lawyer takes away an opportunity for another student, having a clean record, to enroll and otherwise be more likely to become employed as such.

    If universities had fully open enrollment I would say let anyone in that wants to attend. But if slots are limited the university has to be practical.

  18. Lane v. Frank was published by Scotus this morning. Thought I would throw in some law news here.

  19. Paul wrote “And your experience for bipolar comes from?”

    A quick survey of recognized medical sites. I am rather efficient at conducting searches.

    “I did not say she was a sex fiend only that she had multiple partners. And I think the PC phrase is ‘sex addict’.”

    She had 100s of sex partners, not just multiple. In her own words, she had no choice but to ‘drag’ herself from one date to the next in ‘soggy desire.’ Yes, the PC phrase is as you say, but I hate PC.

    “close only counts in horseshoes and hand-grenades”

    And WMD.

    1. saucy – was watching a program last night on Operation Viking Hammer which took place during Iraqi Freedom. They actually ran onto ricin while fight terrorists from various countries. The people they were fighting are the basis for ISIS in Iraq.

  20. Anne;

    KUDOs to you – MUCH – for being a fantastic single mother.

    As for the battle of the comment ring and challenges presented by digital gauntlets being thrown down – I empathize and understand completely.

    Having been tossed from DailyKos (even after promises not to be done so – unless I stated a falsity), I’ve learned (the hard way) that the best way to deal with ignorance; comes from the root of the word.

    Ignore them.

    There are billions of buttheads in the world and there’s no way under heaven that we can straighten them all up. Especially those hell bent on finding fault with you (no matter how much substantial proof one may possess).

    The monitoring system in this realm is far better than that at DailyKos and almost the same (though different) than Democratic Underground. I’m studying them all, for my launch of a different type of website (educational and provocative).

    Most of the good ones utilize vBulletin (and its cheap to do so).

    We all tend to open up more – online – then we do in public gatherings. This is due (in part) to the anonymity; and also in part to the fact that we can walk away from the banter – while not being considered rude.

    I enjoy the intellectual and honest debates/ reflections here – much.

    Keep up being the great patriarch and try to see some good in Paul(s);
    and never take it personal (cause they don’t really know you personally)!

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