Omar Shahid Khan is now 21 years old and reportedly attends college on a scholarship.
Khan pleaded guilty to two felony counts of commercial burglary and a felony count each of altering public records, stealing or removing public records and attempting to steal or remove public records. Dozens of related felony counts were dismissed as part of a plea deal offered by the judge.
Khan's lawyer said he decided to take the plea bargain offer because he did not want his classmates at Tesoro High School to have to return to court to testify during a trial.
Khan is expected to be sentenced in August to 30 days in jail, three years of probation, 500 hours of community service and nearly $15,000 in fines.
Co-defendant Tanvir Singh, 21, pleaded guilty in 2008. All the charges against him have since been dismissed because his attorney says he successfully finished his sentence and probationary period.
About 10 students were involved in the cheating and grade changing, but most of them had their cases dealt with in juvenile court. Khan and Singh were 18 at the time of the incident.
Khan broke into classrooms and administrative offices at the high school several times from Jan. 23, 2008, to May 19, 2008, so he could steal tests and hack into computers to change his grades, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Khan and Singh were caught going into a classroom to steal an English test May 19, 2008, by a custodian, but they managed to run away, according to prosecutors.
City News Service contributed to this report.
