Felicity Huffman college admissions scandal sentenced to prison 14 days

Actress Felicity Huffman was sentenced to 14 days in prison on Friday and paid thousands of dollars to inflate one of her daughter's SAT scores. 

She is the first parent to be executed in a massive university cheating scandal that shook the American higher education system.

Judge Indira Talwani also said he had to serve12 months of supervised release, 250 hours of community service and a $ 30,000 fine.

Huffman said in a post-declaration statement: “I accept the court's decision today without reservation. I have always been prepared to accept whatever punishment Judge Talwani imposed. I broke the law. ... There are no excuses or justifications for my actions. Period."

She also apologized to the hard-working students who went on to university and parents who made great sacrifices to support their children.

Huffman added, “I can promise you that in the months and years to come that I will try and live a more honest life.”

Before the ruling was made, the prosecution rejected the previous expression of Huffman's parents' worries and concerns and said "welcome parents". They pointed to other systematic educational fraud cases in which defendants were sentenced to prison.

Huffman then apologized to his daughter and husband, actor William H. Macy, and others affected by her actions for swaying voices in Boston.

Before the ruling, she said, "I have done more damage than I could have ever imagined.” "I take full responsibility for my actions and making amends with my crime. ... I will deserve whatever punishment you give me."

The prosecution said a movie or TV star is known for her role of desperate wives was sentenced to prison for a month and acted "out of a sense of entitlement, or at least moral cluelessness."

"In the context of this case, neither probation nor home confinement (in a large home in the Hollywood Hills with an infinity pool) would constitute meaningful punishment or deter others from committing similar crimes." 

Prosecutors wrote in Huffman's memo. "Even a fine at the high end of the applicable Guidelines range would amount to little more than a rounding error for a defendant with a net worth measured in the tens of millions of dollars."

But Huffman pointed out that the lawyer was the first offence and claimed that she did not deserve to spend time behind the bar. Instead, they demanded a year of probation, 250 hours of community service and a $ 20,000 fine.

This case repacks questions about college advancement, race and privileges, and Huffman's sentence informs other signals that can be faced by other prosecuted parents.

Tony Jack of the Harvard Graduate School of Education is the author of The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students. He said Huffman's 14-day model shows racial prejudice.

"We are not trying to decipher, 'Oh you only paid $15,000 so you should get 15 days. Well, you paid $6.8 million, well you should get five years.' 

They all did the exact same thing," Jack says. "If this was a drug case, they would do a RICO charge so quickly because they don't care that you were the top dog or the corner boy, they would want you in jail for as long as possible."

Huffman is not the first person who sentenced to conspiracy and bribery in the education sector. The former Stanford Sailing Coach admitted the fact that he was bribed over $ 500,000. He is not sending time in prison.

The Federal prosecutors announced in March that an FBI survey called “Operation Varsity Blues” revealed a multi-million dollar entry plan from 2011 to February. 

More than 50 people were prosecuted, including 34 prominent parents. Parents forge the tuition fees and exercise credentials to the consultant, prepare a bribe, and pay the consultant to allow the child to go on to a famous university.

Lawyer Andrew Lelling, an attorney in Massachusetts in the United States, announced the charges and argued that "there will not be a separate admissions system for the wealthy. And there will not be a separate criminal justice system either."

The actress, who repeatedly expressed “serious regret and shame”, pleaded guilty to commit email fraud, honest service, and email fraud for the first time in two months since being arrested by the FBI in May.

She paid $ 15,000 to a charity run by William "Rick" Singer, a consultant who masterminded the scandal. 

Singer had previously arranged it so that when Huffman's oldest daughter took the SAT, one of his associates secretly corrected wrong answers, raising her test score to 1420.

According to the memo recorded by Huffman and included in the court document, it will cost $ 75,000 to ensure a 1600 perfect score.

In a letter sent to court last week, she explained how she said “yes” to increase the chances of a child participating in a selected acting program while working with a singer for almost a year for planning illegal acts.

"In my desperation to be a good mother, I talked myself into believing that all I was doing was giving my daughter a fair shot. I see the irony in that statement now because what I have done is the opposite of fair," she wrote.

The actress maintained her daughter, who was diagnosed with a learning disability based on legal submissions, did not know the scam. 

When Huffman learned in the letter that teenager, she asked "with tears streaming down her face, 'Why didn't you believe in me? Why didn't you think I could do it on my own?!' "

Huffman's daughter has not been charged.

The defence explained that Huffman, along with singer, studied several strategies to increase his daughter's math test score.

He seemed "so confident and knowledgeable," Huffman wrote.

Last March, the singer pleaded guilty to fraud to standard exams and to prevent US fraud related to bribing college coaches and administrators and money laundering conspiracy. 

Huffman is one of 15 parents who have admitted various guilts.

At least 17 parents, including actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, are fighting against federal charges, including conspiracy, to commit guilty fraud and money laundering.

Loughlin and Giannulli were charged with allegedly paying $ 500,000 to pass their two daughters to the crew recruits. Neither daughter rowed competitively, but the family has provided photos of the ergometer movement. One of my daughters finally entered the University of Southern California.

Huffman must report to prison report on 25 October.