An actor who starred in “Desperate Housewives” with Felicity Huffman slammed her prison sentence in the college bribery scandal, saying he saw up close how Huffman avoided “accountability and responsibility.”
Ricardo Chavira said that Huffman was benefiting from “white privilege.”
“And I saw Eight years worth of it, so I know what I’m talking about. Accountability and Responsibility don’t mean [expletive] to these people,” he added, writing on Twitter.
“I saw Eight years worth of it working on Housewives. I’ve seen a lifetime of it being a halfbreed, and I’ve struggled w the intricacies of it on a daily basis w all the cultural bias I’ve received on both ends. But whatever. Slap on the wrist. Sorry, but this [expletive].”
“But it’s not about race. Tired of stupid people and their stupid arguments. If you haven’t lived it, you really have no say. Stay in your lane,” he said.
Huffman pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud for paying an admissions consultant $15,000 to have a proctor correct her daughter’s SAT exam answers in 2017. She pursued a similar scheme for her other daughter but ultimately abandoned that pursuit.
Along with the two weeks in prison, which she’s slated to start later this month, Huffman was given a $30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service and a year of supervised release.
Huffman said before the sentencing that “I am deeply ashamed of what I have done. I have inflicted more damage than I could ever imagine.”
Huffman released a long statement ahead of pleading guilty on May 13 and later sent a letter to the judge expressing deep remorse for what she did.
Chavira, who describes himself as a second-generation Mexican-American and a fan of socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), repeatedly hammered Huffman through his Twitter account.
He shared several posts that were heavily critical of Huffman’s sentence, including one from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that said: “We have a criminal justice system which is racist, broken, and must be fundamentally reformed.”
The sentence for another actress embroiled in the college scheme, Lori Loughlin of “Full House,” will likely be harsher than the one levied against Huffman, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Andrew Lelling said.
Unlike Huffman, Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, who is also charged in the scheme, are fighting the charges and have pleaded not guilty.
Lelling said he thought Huffman’s 14-day sentence was reasonable.
“Ms. Huffman was probably the least culpable of the defendants who we charged in that case,” he said.
Huffman “took responsibility almost immediately. She was contrite, did not try to minimize her conduct. I think she handled it in a very classy way,” Lelling said.
“I think it sent a clear message to the other parents involved that there really is a good chance that if you’re convicted of the offense, you’re going to go to prison for some period of time,” said Lelling. “Because the least culpable defendant, who took responsibility right away, even she got prison.”
