Paper posts names of those it says bought degrees

SPOKANE — A newspaper has published the names of nearly 10,000 people it says bought bogus college degrees from a Spokane diploma mill.

The names include people working in military, government and education fields.

The list, which the U.S. Department of Justice had refused to release to the public, was posted Monday on The Spokesman-Review's Web site. The newspaper did not say how it obtained the list.

A preliminary analysis by the newspaper, based on e-mail addresses, showed 135 individuals with ties to the military, 39 with links to educational institutions, and 17 employed by government agencies. But the numbers could be much higher if buyers used their personal e-mail accounts.

Dixie Ellen Randock, a high-school dropout who was the mastermind behind the diploma mill operation, was sentenced in early July to three years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. Her husband, Steve Randock, is scheduled to be sentenced next week in U.S. District Court.