Gordon Caplan, the suspended co-chairman of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, made his first appearance in Boston federal court Wednesday alongside a host of other parents accused of paying bribes to get their kids into top colleges.

Caplan appeared briefly before U.S. Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley of the District of Massachusetts, along with his defense attorney, Joshua Levy of Ropes & Gray. Levy told the judge his client was waiving a preliminary conference. Caplan was asked if he understood the charges against him and that he faced a maximum term of 20 years behind bars; he said “yes, Your Honor” to each question.