Police say Tyler Coyner, 19, was the ringleader in a group of 13 students who have been charged with conspiracy, theft and computer intrusion in connection with the case. Last year, Coyner somehow obtained a password to the Pahrump Valley High School's grade system and, over the course of two semesters, offered to change grades in return for cash payments, police say.

Nye County Sheriff's Deputy David Boruchowitz declined to say in an interview exactly how Coyner allegedly changed the grades, citing the ongoing investigation.

Coyner boosted the grades of a dozen students but saved the biggest improvements for himself, police said. He was selected as his school's salutatorian at the 2010 graduation, an honor he never legitimately earned, according to the Nye County Sheriff's Office. The salutatorian honor is usually given to the student with the second-highest marks at graduation.

Coyner, now a student at the University of Nevada in Reno, had a 4.54 grade point average, according to a , written around the time of his graduation last year.

In his address, which is , Coyner describes himself as a formerly shy student who was much changed by his high school experience. "I changed for the better, learning what it meant to be a student at PVHS and taking initiative in completing assigned work. ... Well, sort of," he says in the video.