Wife-killer and cross-dresser Richard Sharpe made one final round of headlines this morning after hanging himself in his Norfolk, Mass. jail cell. The former Harvard Medical School professor and millionaire was nearly eight years into his life sentence for killing his wife Karen in 2000. To be more specific, Sharpe shot the mother of his three children in the chest with a hunting rifle in the foyer of their home while her family watched.

But wait—there's more.  Not only did Sharpe enjoy the occasional stroll in fishnets and heels, he also stole his wife's birth control pills in an attempt to grow bigger breasts. The cross-dressing seems innocent compared to the brutal murder, but Sharpe lost all sense of humanity after allegedly plotting to kill the district attorney who convicted him in 2001. (The nutty professor was acquitted of these charges in 2007 after a jury decided that Sharpe's rapist cellmate wasn't the most trustworthy witness.)

The case is old news now having run the true-crime gamut from a Court TV special to a pulpy paperback entitled Twisted. Each detail—from Sharpe's abusive father to Harvard's knack for psychopaths—reveals the story to be both frightening and tragic. It's only a matter of time until Lifetime options the book for their library of can't-stop-watching movies.

On Friday, Penn alum and petty criminal Edward Anderton was sentenced to four years of prison and ordered to repay $100,000 in restitution for a spree of identity-theft crimes he committed with Jocelyn Kirsch, his former girlfriend and partner-in-crime. Although the duo dabbled in scams in equal measure, Anderton received a lighter sentence than Kirsch - four years to her five - because, as his lawyer successfully argued, he showed greater remorse.

There are many ways to show remorse: a tearful apology, self-flagellation, etc., but, as the old saying goes, actions speak louder than words. Indeed,

Since posting bail, Anderton has worked at a manual labor job and his salary goes toward a bank account specifically for restitution. This salary, in addition to his liquefied 401K and other legally obtained money in a bank account, amounts to about one third of the total restitution he will have to pay.

A manual labor job, really? We know that Wall Street is in the toilet, and that many Whartonites are being terminated from their jobs en masse, but one would think that all Wharton alums - especially those who are criminals - would be far too proud to accept such work. So Anderton's sentence is probably well-deserved.

Remember Ryan Goldstein, that one Penn '09 who hacked Penn's server, his downfall the ludicrously-titled FBI sting "Operation Botroast II"? According to the Philly Inquirer, he just got sentenced to 90 days and $30K. Apparently he would've gotten less, but the judge was totally weirded out by his kid porn collection, and how damn white he is:

The judge referred to the fact that prosecutors had decided not to charge Goldstein with child pornography in return for his cooperation.

But the judge said he found it tough to sentence another man, Derrick Williams, 32, of Philadelphia, to a heavy prison sentence the same day for the same crime.

"It seems very unfair. . . . I want to note for the record that Mr. Goldstein is white and Mr. Williams is African American and that adds to my discomfort," said Baylson. Both men had roughly 1,000 images of child pornography on their computers, the judge said.

Kid porn and racial politics. They'll get you every time! Anyway, in a deliciously Law and Order twist, Goldstein launched a rather creative positive defense:

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You may recall our previous post on Penn-Drexel identity thieves Edward Anderton and Jocelyn Kirsch, who were arrested last December for opening dozens of credit cards in their neighbors' names and charging tens of thousands of dollars on them to feed their lavish proclivities, including - but not limited to - shoes, designer handbags, and tickets to exotic locales around the world.

The saga of this trashy genre fiction duo is finally reaching its denouement: Ms. Kirsch, who appeared in court this morning, was sentenced to five years in prison and was also ordered to pay a hundred thousand dollars in restitution. Her one time lover and partner-in-crime Edward Anderton - who will undoubtedly receive a similar sentence - will appear before court next month.

Expect another update then.

At 11AM on Friday would-be Yalie Akash Maharaj strolled out the front door of New Haven Superior Court a (nearly) free man. Akash raised $18,250 of the $31,591 he owes Yale University for scholarships acquired with forged documents. (Allegedly forged! Akash reminds at every chance, air-finger-quotey-things wiggling conspiratorially.) He now begins a five-year probation period with a zillion strings attached about work and community service and whatnot. Maharaj pleaded guilty to first-degree larceny, a felony. His guilty plea is part of a deal that has, for the time being, allowed him to escape felony forgery and violation of a restraining order charges. YDN coverage here.

If and when Akash pulls together the remaining cash, his probation will end. Until then, all contact between Akash and Yale University is strictly verboten: a campus-wide restraining order. Asked for comment, Akash rolled his eyes.

When you think about it, all I'm in trouble for is stealing English classes. It's not like I was running around with a little bag of money, like, Eeeee! [here Akash emits a high-pitched squeal and pantomimes cartoon bank thievery]

He then toed his way carefully around the campus perimeter, hopped a train, and went back to New York.

This may not, however, be the last we hear from the international man of mystery. Akash tells us he has something big and secret in the works, something about his career, or his future, or a cure for cancer! that he will unveil in two months' time. He may also appeal the felony conviction, but I really hope not, because I'm sick of staring at that snooty wine picture every day. Akash, if you insist on being in the news, could you at least send us a new picture? Please?

While some people pretend to go to Ivy League schools to hide their royal lineage, we here at IvyGate prefer our impostors with a bit more edge. Thankfully our favorite fake Yalie Akash Maharaj has obliged us!

When we last left Akash in spring, he was busy trying to save his social security number from our comment boards, but now I bet he wishes someone could steal his identity because he’ll probably be headed to prison very soon.

Akash recently plead guilty to the charge of larceny in the first degree and waits to be sentenced on September 5th. But he only forged transcripts! What did he steal? Oh, just a little over $30,000 in financial aid. And Yale wants it all back. In fact, according to the Connecticut Attorney General in the Yale Daily News, “The severity of Maharaj’s sentence will likely depend on the extent to which Yale receives restitution.”

In yet Akash seems to have taken some legal advice from Bobby Brown and DMX and attempted to make all this justice nonsense go away by just not showing up:

...Maharaj skipped another court date — what was supposed to be a hearing to apply for a form of probation that could have eventually wiped his criminal record.
But Maharaj, 27, did not show. His attorney, Glenn Conway, had told Maharaj he had to appear in court unless he was in a hospital. So, in Judge Richard Damiani’s words, Maharaj “conveniently” checked into one.
Visibly unsympathetic, Damiani ordered Maharaj rearrested...

After the jump: the legal proceedings might be coming to an end, but Akash is unfortunately not out of the woods.
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For a few weeks in May, my friend Greg worked as a "scavenger" at Yale, going through all the crap people leave behind in their rooms after finals and (mostly) trashing it. He was paid pretty well, and got to keep anything he found. His final haul, I believe, was a few bags of chips, a blue bicycle and a ratty Dr. Pepper t-shirt he is way too proud of.

That is all very much less impressive than this.

According to police, a West Philadelphia apartment vacated by seven Penn students last month was, upon later inspection, found to contain a human skull.

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Ever since full names broke in the scandal we shall henceforth call Skullfucked: The Akash Maharaj and Victor Cazares Story, we've gotten a tsunami-force wave of tips evaluating the boys' relative worth and/or loathsomeness. Consensus seems to be that Akash is sketchy but super smart and kinda cute. Were it not for that whole felony thing, he'd be a catch!

On the other hand, Victor (at right) has more enemies than Wharton has douchebags. Gawker published a damning email about Victor with several redactions; since we got a nearly identical email, we're guessing the missing parts are those featuring the breathless retelling of sexual encounters of such graphic and character-assassinating proportions that even Gawker won't touch it. When your enemies are more ruthless than Gawker is, you know you're in trouble.

A brief compendium of Skullfucked rumors:

victor cazares used akash throughout their relationship so that akash would buy him food (every day), clothes, books, train tickets etc. victor even stopped going in regularly to his job at la casa (the latino cultural center at yale) because he expected akash to take care of him.

victor did indeed claim to destroy akash's belongings and the yale police have the email and have advised akash to seek monetary compensation by suing victor in civil court. it is unclear though whether victor actually destroyed his ex's belongings or whether he was just lying so he could steal them. ... last i heard, akash was trying to press charges against victor for larceny and criminal mischief (regarding his belongings)

Both boys have blocked each other from their respective facebook profiles but there are still wall to wall messages that mutual "friends" like myself can view. It's fascinating how early in the relationship VICTOR seemed like the obsessive one, posting comments on Akash's wall over and over within seconds of each comment. ... It seems as if over time, Victor became more secure and then Akash went crazy. But in the beginning it was the reverse.

After the jump: Wall posts for Akash, with love from Victor. We discover that "Babel" is overrated and that Trader Joe's is the market of choice for depraved Yalies.

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A New York Post article entitled "SKEEVY IVY SCAMMER: NYer Faked Way Into Yale and its $$: Probe" (when did NYP start sourcing headline-writing to 13-year-old girls on MySpace?) breaks the identity of Yale's mysterious scam artist. Gawker breaks a second identity via a web of rumors on our comment boards: Bonesman Victor Cazares is also rumored to be the gay lover who initially alerted authorities to inconsistencies in Maharaj's story.

Meanwhile, this 2006 Spec article offers a Moebius strip of imagined Maharaj history. Before claiming to be a Columbia transfer at Yale, he apparently claimed to be a Yale transfer at Columbia:

"Columbia has been disappointing in almost every way," said Akash Maharaj, who transferred to Columbia from Yale at the beginning of the year. By the end of first semester, he was ready to transfer back.

Since his arrival here in September, he says, pretty much everything has been going wrong. He says that the Core Curriculum is "old-fashioned and ridiculous", the school environment is "anonymous", and, though he loves New York City, he gets to do things around the city "only around once every two weeks, anyway."

Ironically, it was Maharaj's loss of anonymity-in the arms of a lover-that ruined him. Falsified identities can be lonesome that way.

Yale Daily News reports that a 26-year-old student "defrauded Yale University wholesale," faking records, transcripts, and major elements of his identity. After burning through $46,000 in financial aid, Yale tried to pull a hush job on the guy-whose name isn't in the articles-with a quick, quiet dismissal, but the alleged fraud sticking to his "not guilty" plea, Yale and the mysterious man will be airing their dirty laundry in court, starting next week.

The story has so many twisting elements, it reads like a daytime soap: Gay lovers' spat! Race-related unrest! Forgery, identity theft, mental instability! The defendant may have duped NYU, Columbia, and Yale with falsified transcripts and tales of charitable works in Sri Lanka (probably fake) and a childhood in Trinidad and Tobago (probably real). YDN indulges the byzantine plot here.

Equally distressing (read: disgustingly juicy) is the fact that he made it this far. Records suggest at least four years of financially-aided education, and while we understand that transferring credits can be a total bitch, that's gotta add up to at least one associate's degree in "Fraudulent Psychopath," right? YDN explores college-app forgery here, but really, all you need is this sentence:

The revelation that someone could infiltrate Yale shatters the mystique of the Ivy League as an impregnable bastion of the elite.

Raise the alarm! Our ranks have been broken! We'll follow this story as it unfolds; so far, my frantic Googling offers zilch; I can't even find stuff on the September charge.