Felicity Huffman Prison Sentence Starts For College Admissions Scandal
Actress Felicity Huffman has submitted herself to a federal prison outside of Northern California on Tuesday.
She was to begin her 14-day sentence for the role she played in a college admissions scandal that rocked the array of elite universities around the United States.
Known for her role in "Desperate Housewives," Huffman surrendered herself to the authorities in Dublin, California to serve her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institute. Her representative said that the actress will be serving her sentence full in this facility 40 miles east of San Francisco.
Wife of actor William H. Macy and a one-time Oscar nominee, Huffman will also perform 250 hours of community service and will be paying a fine of $30,000 as part of the sentence that has been handed down by Judge Indira Talwani, the U.S. District Judge who handled the case.
The 56-year old television and movie actress admitted to the court that she paid someone to proctor and correct the college admissions test. It led her daughter to get 400 points above the PSAT performance to a whopping 1420 out of 1600.
She has been assigned the prisoner number 77806-112 and is expected to complete her sentence. There is no time off offered to those whose sentence in the federal court is less than a year.
Huffman's representative said that the actress is willing to serve the term of imprisonment ordered by Judge Talwani last month. Furthermore, Huffman regrets what she has done and hopes people will learn from her mistakes, her representative said from a prepared statement.
"One year supervised release with conditions including the 250 hours worth of community service will then be served by Huffman as soon as she's released," Huffman's representative said. She remains to be one of the fifty people who were charged for sweeping the college admissions exam cheating scheme.
The FBI conducted an investigation on what they named the "Operation Varsity Blues". Well-heeled parents paid off Rick Singer to ensure their children's spot into elite colleges in the country. To ensure the spot, they had to boost the applicants' college board exam results. There are also others who applied for college using the athlete's card that could get them a special admissions pass.
Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and the University of Southern California are just some of the prominent universities in the US involved in the scheme. Actress Lori Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli, a fashion designer, have also been charged.
In an interview, US Attorney Andrew Lellin, from the District of Massachusetts, revealed that they will be asking for a tougher sentence for Loughlin and her husband, citing the lack of cooperation from their end to untie the mess. The US attorney said that the couple showed no remorse for what they did.
Leilin said that the sentence for Loughlin will be heavier than the 14-day imprisonment granted to Felicity Huffman. Loughlin pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and money laundering. She remains free while on a $1 million dollar bail.
