BOSTON—”Desperate Housewives” star Felicity Huffman says she takes full responsibility for her role in the college admissions scandal and deserves her punishment.
A federal judge in Boston sentenced the actress on Sept. 13 to 14 days in prison, a $30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service and a year’s probation.
Huffman was stoic in court, telling U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani she “betrayed” her daughters and her actor husband, William H. Macy.
“I was frightened, I was stupid, and I was so wrong,” Huffman, 56, said as she became the first parent sentenced in a college admissions scandal that ensnared dozens of wealthy and well-connected mothers and fathers.
The scandal exposed the lengths to which parents will go to get their children into the “right” schools and reinforced suspicions that the college admissions process is slanted toward the rich.
In sentencing Huffman, Judge Talwani noted the outrage the case has generated, adding that it “isn’t because people discovered that it isn’t a true meritocracy out there.” The outrage, she said, was because Huffman took steps “to get one more advantage” in a system “already so distorted by money and privilege.”
Prosecutors had sought a month in prison for Huffman, while her lawyers said she should get probation.
A total of 51 people have been charged in the scheme, the biggest college admissions case ever prosecuted by the Justice Department. Prosecutors said parents schemed to manipulate test scores and bribed coaches to get their children into elite schools by having them labeled as recruited athletes for sports they didn’t even play.
“I would like to apologize again to my daughter, my husband, my family and the educational community for my actions,” Huffman said in an emailed statement after the sentencing hearing. “And I especially want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to get into college, and to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices supporting their children.”
After her sentencing, she said via email, “I accept the court’s decision today without reservation.”
Huffman’s lawyer, Martin Murphy, argued that her crimes were less serious than those of her co-defendants. Huffman pleaded guilty in May to paying an admissions consultant $15,000 to have a proctor correct her daughter’s SAT exam answers in 2017.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen had pushed hard for a full month’s imprisonment. Rosen says there was “simply no excuse” for Huffman’s actions.
