A $7 million diploma mill run through more than 120 fake universities, 'Operation Gold Seal'
From about 1999 to 2005, Dixie and Steven Randock Sr. of Colbert, Washington ran a diploma mill through Saint Regis University and more than 120 other fictitious online schools, selling fake high school, undergraduate and graduate degrees to at least 9,612 buyers in 131 countries for more than $7 million. A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Washington indicted the Randocks and six others in October 2005; all pleaded guilty, and in 2008 Dixie and Steven Randock were each sentenced to three years in federal prison.
- Year
- 2008
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $7.0 million
- Victims
- 9,612
- Schemes
- Diploma mill fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-31
The facts, as recorded
- The federal investigation, 'Operation Gold Seal,' led to a three-count indictment from a grand jury in the Eastern District of Washington: conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud against all eight defendants, plus conspiracy to launder funds against Dixie and Steven Randock, Sr. specifically.
- The indictment named Dixie Ellen Randock and Steven Karl Randock, Sr. of Colbert, Washington as the operation's owners, alongside Blake Allan Carlson, Heidi Kae Lorhan, Amy Leann Hensley, Roberta Lynn Markishtum and Kenneth Wade Pearson.
- The scheme sold fake diplomas and degrees under dozens of invented school names, including Saint Regis University, Robertstown University, James Monroe University and James Monroe University High School; by one later count the Randocks' network ran more than 120 connected fictitious schools.
- Buyers paid $399 to $2,454 for a degree 'evaluation,' or could take a 125-question test and receive a high school diploma while answering only 25 percent of the questions correctly.
- Carlson allegedly made fake rubber stamps and seals; Markishtum allegedly printed documents and falsely vouched for degrees to employers by phone; Pearson built and maintained the network's roughly 125 fake school websites.
- A co-defendant, Richard Novak, admitted in his plea agreement to paying Liberian officials $44,000 so the operation could falsely claim accreditation from Liberia's own National Commission of Higher Education; Liberia's embassy in Washington, D.C. publicly disclaimed those documents as 'null and void' in October 2004.
- A US Secret Service agent, posing as a retired Syrian military officer, bought fake chemistry and environmental engineering degrees from James Monroe University as part of the undercover investigation.
- Kenneth Wade Pearson, the network's webmaster, pleaded guilty in October 2006 to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, with a plea deal tied to his cooperation against the Randocks; he was separately charged with, and admitted to, receipt of child pornography found during the investigation, conduct unrelated to the diploma mill itself.
- Dixie and Steven Randock pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud in March 2008. Dixie Randock was sentenced in July 2008 to three years in federal prison; Steven Randock, Sr. was sentenced the following month, in August 2008, also to three years.
- The operation reached at least 9,612 buyers in 131 countries and took in more than $7 million over about six years; a 2012 report on the case put the total closer to $7.4 million. Dixie Randock was released from federal prison in April 2011 after serving her term.
Why this case matters
This is the oldest and, by number of buyers, the largest of the three diploma mills documented on this page: more than 120 fictitious schools run out of business buildings in Mead and Post Falls, Washington, reaching buyers in 131 countries over roughly six years before a federal task force shut it down.
A fake government seal, bought with a real bribe
Most diploma mills invent an “accrediting body” out of nothing. This one, according to a co-defendant’s own plea agreement, paid $44,000 to actual Liberian officials to claim real accreditation from Liberia’s National Commission of Higher Education, then built a fake Liberian embassy website to back it up. Liberia’s own embassy in Washington, D.C. had to publicly disclaim the resulting documents as “null and void” in October 2004, a full year before the US indictment.
Who did what
The indictment described a small production line: Carlson allegedly made the fake rubber stamps and seals, Pearson built and ran the network of roughly 125 websites, and Markishtum allegedly printed finished diplomas and vouched for their authenticity to employers who called to check. Pearson’s guilty plea, tied to his cooperation against the Randocks, came with a separate, unrelated admission: investigators found more than 10,000 images of child sexual abuse material on hard drives seized from his home, conduct the plea agreement treats as entirely distinct from the diploma mill charges and which no other defendant in this case faced.
The caveat
All named individuals in this summary, Dixie Randock, Steven Randock, Sr., Kenneth Wade Pearson and Richard Novak, pleaded guilty; this is not a case of unproven allegations. Sources differ slightly on the exact dollar total ($7 million per one 2008 account, closer to $7.4 million per a 2012 report) and on the precise count of fictitious schools (sources describe “more than 100” to “121” to “about 120”), differences this page preserves rather than resolves. Other co-defendants named in the original indictment, including Heidi Kae Lorhan and Amy Leann Hensley, also pleaded guilty according to public reporting, but this case file does not state an individual sentence for either of them because no source consulted for this page confirmed one.
Sources
- Subject: U.S. Attorney Press Release - US v. Randock, et al. (Diploma Mill Fraud Case). U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Washington (mirrored by University of Illinois physics department). Accessed 2026-10-31. Supports: The three-count indictment, the defendants' names, the fraudulent school names, the $399-to-$2,454 evaluation fee, the 125-question test detail, the fake Liberian embassy website, the Secret Service undercover purchase, the forfeiture sought from the Randocks, and the investigating agencies.
- Fraud conspiracy admitted. The Spokesman-Review (Bill Morlin). Accessed 2026-10-31. Supports: Kenneth Wade Pearson's October 2006 guilty plea and cooperation deal, his role as webmaster of about 125 fake school sites, the Liberian officials' $44,000 bribe admitted by Richard Novak, the roughly 6,000 buyers referenced in the plea agreement, the conspiracy period of September 2002 to August 2005, and Pearson's separate child pornography admission.
- Diploma seller an online psychic. The Spokesman-Review. Accessed 2026-10-31. Supports: Dixie Randock's age (62) and Mead, Washington residence as of 2012, her April 2011 release after three years in federal prison, the 121 fictitious online schools, the 9,612 buyers in 131 countries, and the roughly $7.4 million earnings figure.
- Foreign Student Series: Diploma Mills. VOA Learning English. Accessed 2026-10-31. Supports: The August 2008 three-year sentences for the husband and wife who ran Saint Regis University and more than 100 other diploma mills, the more than 9,000 buyers worldwide, and the roughly $7 million total.
- Saint Regis University. Wikipedia. Accessed 2026-10-31. Supports: The 1999-to-2005 operating period and 'Operation Gold Seal' name, the roughly 120 connected institutions, the October 2005 indictment and nearly $2 million money-laundering count, Dixie Randock's July 2008 sentencing and Steven Randock's August 2008 sentencing, both to three years, and Liberia's embassy disclaiming the accreditation documents.