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Associated Press

Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman was sentenced on Friday to 14 days in prison for paying US$15,000 to rig her daughter’s SAT scores in the college admissions scandal that ensnared dozens of wealthy and well-connected parents.
Huffman, 56, became the first of 34 parents to be sentenced in the case. She was also given a US$30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service and a year of supervised release.
Before sentencing, she tearfully described her daughter asking why Huffman did not trust her.
“I can only say I am so sorry, Sophia,” Huffman said.




“I was frightened. I was stupid, and I was so wrong. I am deeply ashamed of what I have done. I have inflicted more damage than I could ever imagine. I now see all the things that led me down this road, but ultimately none of the reasons matter because at the end of the day I had a choice. I could have said no.”
A total of 51 people have been charged in the scheme, the biggest college admissions case ever prosecuted by the Justice Department.
In his argument for incarceration, Assistant US Attorney Eric Rosen said on Friday that prosecutors had no reason to doubt the rationale she offered – her fears and insecurities as a parent – for taking part in the scheme.
Chinese family paid US$1.2 million for Yale spot. Why weren’t they charged?
“But with all due respect to the defendant, welcome to parenthood,” Rosen said. “Parenthood is terrifying, exhausting and stressful, but that’s what every parent goes through. … What parenthood does not do, it does not make you a felon, it does not make you cheat, in fact it makes you want to serve as a positive role model for your children.”




Huffman’s lawyer Martin Murphy argued that her crimes were less serious than those of her co-defendants, noting that she paid a low amount and that, unlike others, she did not enlist her daughter in the scheme.
“One of the key things the court should do is to impose a sentence that treats Ms Huffman like other similarly situated defendants, not treat her more harshly because of her wealth and fame, or treat her more favourably because of her wealth and fame,” Murphy said.
The scandal has embroiled elite universities across the country, including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and UCLA. It exposed the lengths to which parents will go to get their children into the “right” schools and reinforced suspicions that the college admissions process is slanted toward the rich.
Prosecutors said parents schemed to manipulate test scores and bribed coaches to get their children into elite schools by having them labelled as recruited athletes for sports they did not even play.
Ex-Stanford sailing coach jailed for a day over college admissions scandal
Huffman pleaded guilty in May to a single count of conspiracy and fraud as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Prosecutors had requested prison time to send the message that white-collar criminals cannot simply buy their way out of jail. But her lawyers argued that Huffman was only a “customer” in a broader scheme orchestrated by others. In past cases involving cheating or academic fraud, they said, only the ringleaders went to prison.
The case is seen as an indicator of what’s in store for other defendants. Over the next two months, nearly a dozen other parents are expected to be sentenced. Fifteen parents have pleaded guilty, while 19 are fighting the charges.
Among those contesting the charges are Full House actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, who are accused of paying to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California as fake athletes.

Former Stanford University sailing coach John Vandemoer is the only other person sentenced so far and received a day in prison. He admitted helping students get into Stanford as recruited athletes in exchange for US$270,000 for his sailing programme.
Huffman paid US$15,000 to boost her older daughter Sofia’s SAT scores with the help of William “Rick” Singer, an admission consultant at the centre of the scheme. Singer, who has pleaded guilty, allegedly bribed a test proctor to correct the teenager’s answers.
Authorities said Huffman’s daughter got a bump of 400 points from her earlier score on the PSAT, a practice version of the SAT. The actress has said her daughter was unaware of the arrangement.
In a letter this month asking for leniency, Huffman said she carries “a deep and abiding shame” and recognises that she broke the law and betrayed her family. She said she turned to the scheme after her daughter’s dreams of going to college and pursuing an acting career were jeopardised by her low maths score.
FBI charges TV stars, rich parents, with bribery to get kids into college
“I honestly didn’t and don’t care about my daughter going to a prestigious college,” Huffman wrote. “I just wanted to give her a shot at being considered for a programme where her acting talent would be the deciding factor.”
Prosecutors countered that Huffman was driven by “a sense of entitlement, or at least moral cluelessness, facilitated by wealth and insularity”.
“Millions of parents send their kids to college every year. All of them care as much she does about their children’s fortunes,” they said in court papers. “But they don’t buy fake SAT scores and joke about it (’Ruh Ro!’) along the way.”
Huffman used the Scooby-Doo catchphrase in an email after her daughter’s high school tried to make her take the exam with its own proctor instead of one preferred by Singer.

Prosecutors have not said which colleges her daughter applied to with the fraudulent SAT score.
Huffman’s husband, actor William H. Macy, was not charged.
The amount Huffman paid is relatively low compared with other bribes alleged in the scheme. Some parents are accused of paying up to US$500,000.


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Actress Felicity Huffman, escorted by husband William H. Macy, makes her way to the courthouse entrance in Boston on Friday. Photo: AFP

William "Rick" Singer leaves Boston Federal Court after being charged with racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and obstruction of justice on Tuesday, March 12, 2019 in Boston, Mass. Singer is among several charged in an alleged college admissions scam. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images/TNS) **FOR USE WITH THIS STORY ONLY**

Actress Lori Loughlin, and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli leave the federal courthouse after a hearing on charges in a nationwide college admissions cheating scheme in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., August 27, 2019. REUTERS/Josh Reynolds

Hard work got me into Stanford University, says Chinese student in viral video after parents paid US$6.5 million to get her accepted

A 2017 video of Zhao “Molly” Yusi, the Chinese student whose family paid US$6.5 million for her fraudulent admission to Stanford University, has gone viral on social media. Photo: Weibo

=== PHOTO CAPTURED FROM WEIBO === A video of Zhao Yusi, the Chinese student whose family paid US$6.5 million for her fraudulent admission to Stanford University, has gone viral on social media as she repeated claims she was accepted because of her Òhard workÓ. Picture by WEIBO

Fury at ‘influencer’ Olivia Giannulli, face of US college bribery scam and daughter of Full House’s Lori Loughlin, who says she didn’t even care about school

Olivia Giannulli, a so-called online “influencer” who goes by the name Olivia Jade online. Photo: Instagram / Oliviajade

FILE - In this Feb. 28, 2019 file photo, actress Lori Loughlin, center, poses with daughters Olivia Jade Giannulli, left, and Isabella Rose Giannulli at the 2019 "An Unforgettable Evening" in Beverly Hills, Calif. Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli were charged along with nearly 50 other people Tuesday in a scheme in which wealthy parents bribed college coaches and other insiders to get their children into some of the most elite schools in the country, federal prosecutors said. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

Fired Morgan Stanley financial adviser seeks to clear his name in US college admissions scandal

Stanford University, in Palo Alto, California, is one of the institutions where, according to federal prosecutors, cheating and payoffs helped students gain admission. Photo: AP

Spurned students sue US colleges over admissions scandal

FILE PHOTO: The University of Southern California is pictured in Los Angeles, California, U.S., May 22, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 22, 2014 the Hoover Tower is visible through trees on the Stanford University campus in Stanford, California. - Two Hollywood actresses including Oscar-nominated "Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman are among 50 people indicted in a nationwide university admissions scam, court records unsealed in Boston on March 12, 2019 showed. The accused, who also include chief executives, allegedly cheated to get their children into elite schools, including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and the University of Southern California, federal prosecutors said.Huffman, 56, and Lori Loughlin, 54, who starred in "Full House," are charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. (Photo by JUSTIN SULLIVAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

Future graduates waiting for the procession to begin for commencement at Yale University. File photo: AP

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Actress was first of 34 parents in case to be sentenced, and was also given a US$30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service and a year of supervised release
Huffman paid US$15,000 to rig daughter’s SAT scores



Actress was first of 34 parents in case to be sentenced, and was also given a US$30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service and a year of supervised release.


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Education

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United States

Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman jailed for 14 days over US college admissions scam

Actress was first of 34 parents in case to be sentenced, and was also given a US$30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service and a year of supervised release Huffman paid US$15,000 to rig daughter’s SAT scores

Actress was first of 34 parents in case to be sentenced, and was also given a US$30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service and a year of supervised release

Huffman paid US$15,000 to rig daughter’s SAT scores