Felicity Huffman, who could face five years in federal prison for her role in the college bribery scam, plead guilty today and also issued an apology for her part in the whole sordid affair.
“I am pleading guilty to the charge brought against me by the United States Attorney’s Office. I am in full acceptance of my guilt, and with deep regret and shame over what I have done, I accept full responsibility for my actions and will accept the consequences that stem from those action. I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community. I want to apologize to them and, especially, I want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to get into college, and to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices to support their children and do so honestly.”
In total, 14 of the 33 parents indicted in the nationwide conspiracy on March 12 entered pleas today, the feds say. Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Massimo Giannulli have not entered a plea yet, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts also unveiled Monday that Jane Buckingham, founder, and CEO of the Beverly Hills-based boutique marketing firm Trendera, also put a guilty plea in the federal docket.
Huffman’s role in the scheme, which has been widely reported, found the American Crime actress making a purported charitable contribution of $15,000 to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme on behalf of her eldest daughter. Huffman also paid an undisclosed sum to an individual who “controlled” a Los Angeles SAT testing center to fix her daughter’s incorrect exam answers. That effort led to a massive increase in the daughter’s test score and consequently admission to a top college.
Law enforcement is pushing for some prison time for all involved and, as reported here last week, prosecutors really want to make an example out of Loughlin and Huffman to show that their celebrity status won’t let them earn some kind of soft punishment. Prosecutors will recommend the prison time but the final decision will be made by the judge on the case.
