Housewives star Felicity is jailed for 14 days over college scam
Felicity Huffman was last night jailed for 14 days for cheating to get her daughter into college.
A judge told the 56-year-old Desperate Housewives actress that ‘trying to be a good mother’ was no excuse.
She had admitted paying £11,500 to falsely improve her daughter’s exam scores.
She gave the money to a fake charity run by a college consultant who boosted 18-year- old Sofia’s test results.
Huffman could have faced four months in jail but was sentenced to 14 days, fined £24,000 and ordered to do 250 hours of community service.
Reading from a prepared statement, Huffman told Boston Federal court: ‘i am deeply ashamed of what i have done.’
the sentencing was the first in a college admissions scandal that has shocked Hollywood and led to some students being expelled from leading US colleges such as yale.
Around 50 suspects were charged including lawyers, chief executives and fashion designers. they had paid up to £4.6million to cheat their way into colleges.
Huffman will have six weeks to report for her sentence.
Judge indira talwani said the actress ‘knew it was fraud and not an impulsive act’. She told her: ‘ you take your sentence and you move forward. you can rebuild your life after this. you’ve paid your dues.’
Huffman apologised in a note to the judge as well as to her two daughters and her husband William H Macy, who stars in the US version of the tV show Shameless. He was not charged even though he was caught on tape agreeing to take part in the same scheme.
Huffman said: ‘i am deeply ashamed of what i have done. At the end of the day i had a choice to make. i could have said “No”. i’ll deserve whatever punishment you give me.’
it is a spectacular fall from grace for an actress who has been nominated for an Oscar and won an emmy award for her portrayal of lynette Scavo in Desperate Housewives. She paid Rick Singer for Sofia to take tests in a location controlled by an administrator Singer had bribed. As a result Sofia scored 1,420 out of a possible 1,600 which was about 400 points higher than her preliminary mark a year earlier.
Huffman’s lawyer Martin Murphy told the court she was a kind and decent person who ‘knew what she did was wrong’.
But assistant attorney eric Rosen said she should go to jail for one month because ‘there is no excuse for what she did’.
citing a letter that Huffman sent to the judge a week ago, Mr Rosen said: ‘With all due respect to the defendant, welcome to parenthood.
‘Most parents have the moral compass and integrity not to step over the line. the defendant did not.’