Hollywood Actress Felicity Huffman Pleads Guilty in College Admissions ScandalHollywood News

May 14, 2019 11:25
Hollywood Actress Felicity Huffman Pleads Guilty in College Admissions Scandal

(Image source from: Los Angeles Times)

Hollywood actress Felicity Huffman has pleaded guilty to paying $15,000 to a fake charity that facilitated cheating when her daughter took the SATs for college admission.

Prosecutors recommended a sentence of four months prison for the 56-year-old when she appeared in court in Boston on Monday, CNN reported.

The prosecutors also suggested 12 months of supervised release for the charge, which is a felony and a $20,000 fine. She is scheduled to be sentenced on September 13.

The charity was associated with Rick Singer, who has confessed to helping affluent parents cheat on standardized tests for their children. Singer as well as bribed college coaches to falsely designate students as recruited athletes, making their path easy to admission, a criminal complaint says.

The “Desperate Housewives" TV star before breaking down in tears said: “I had no knowledge of Singer paying (others). Everything else (prosecutors) said I did, I did."

The prosecutors said Huffman and Singer exchanged emails on how to provide her daughter with extra time to take the SAT exam and arranged for the girl to take the test in a location controlled by an administrator whom Singer had bribed.

Huffman's daughter received an SAT score of 1420 out of a possible 1600 - about 400 points higher than her Preliminary SAT exam a year earlier.

The actress agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud in April. She was among 13 parents who have said they would plead guilty in the scam, reports CNN.

Seventeen other parents, including "Full House" actress Lori Loughlin, submitted not guilty pleas.

Singer pleaded guilty in March to racketeering, money laundering; conspiracy to defraud the United States, and obstruction of justice.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 19. Huffman's husband, actor William H. Macy, is not charged in the case.

By Sowmya Sangam

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