Felicity Huffman Reports to Prison for Role in College Admissions Scandal

Felicity Huffman Reports to Prison for Role in College Admissions Scandal
Actress Felicity Huffman at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California on Sept. 17, 2017. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/File via AP)
Jack Phillips
10/15/2019
Updated:
10/16/2019

“Desperate Housewives” star Felicity Huffman reported to a California federal correctional institution on Tuesday for her role in the college admissions scandal.

A representative for the actress, who pleaded guilty in the case, said “Huffman is prepared to serve the term of imprisonment Judge [Indira] Talwani ordered as one part of the punishment she imposed for Ms. Huffman’s actions,” CNN reported.

She will serve two weeks behind bars and will conduct 250 hours of community service.

“She will begin serving the remainder of the sentence Judge Talwani imposed—one year of supervised release, with conditions including 250 hours of community service—when she is released,” the spokesperson added.

The 56-year-old pleaded guilty in May and took responsibility for her role in the scandal. She pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

Actress Felicity Huffman arrives with her brother Moore Huffman Jr., at federal court in Boston, where she is scheduled to plead guilty to charges in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal, on May 13, 2019. (Steven Senne/AP Photo)
Actress Felicity Huffman arrives with her brother Moore Huffman Jr., at federal court in Boston, where she is scheduled to plead guilty to charges in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal, on May 13, 2019. (Steven Senne/AP Photo)
Felicity Huffman arrives at federal court in Boston, where she pleaded guilty to charges in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal, on May 13, 2019. (Steven Senne/AP Photo)
Felicity Huffman arrives at federal court in Boston, where she pleaded guilty to charges in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal, on May 13, 2019. (Steven Senne/AP Photo)

Huffman, the wife of longtime actor William H. Macy, confessed to paying an admissions consultant $15,000 to correct her daughter’s answers on the SAT.

“I think this is the right sentence here,” U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani told Huffman earlier this year. “You can move forward and rebuild your life after this. Without this sentence, I think the community around you would ask why you got away with this,” Fox News reported.

“I accept the court’s decision today without reservation,” Huffman said in a statement in September. “I broke the law. I have admitted that and I pleaded guilty to this crime. There are no excuses or justifications for my actions. Period.”

She will serve her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, which is a low-security facility in Alameda County, KTLA reported. It houses about 1,200 female inmates.

Huffman is among dozens of defendants in the case, which also included “Full House” star Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, in April. The pair pleaded not guilty in April.

Actress Lori Loughlin (front) and husband, clothing designer Mossimo Giannulli depart federal court in Boston on April 3, 2019. (Steven Senne/AP Photo)
Actress Lori Loughlin (front) and husband, clothing designer Mossimo Giannulli depart federal court in Boston on April 3, 2019. (Steven Senne/AP Photo)
Actress Lori Loughlin, center, poses with her daughters Bella, left, and Olivia Jade at the Teen Choice Awards in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
Actress Lori Loughlin, center, poses with her daughters Bella, left, and Olivia Jade at the Teen Choice Awards in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
The U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, Andrew Lelling, said earlier this month that “we will probably ask for a higher sentence for [Loughlin] than we did for Felicity Huffman,” according to the Boston Globe.

“I can’t tell you what that would be,” he said.

Loughlin, 55, and Giannulli, 56, are fighting the charges. Lelling said that it might not work out to their advantage.

“It just happened to be that Ms. Huffman was probably the least culpable of the defendants who we’ve charged in that case,” he said, according to Fox News. “She took responsibility almost immediately, she was contrite, did not try to minimize her conduct. I think she handled it in a very classy way.”
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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