Six months after being arrested as part of Operation Varsity Blues, Felicity Huffman received her sentence today. The actress will serve 14 days in jail, and according to reporters inside the courtroom, will pay a $30,000 fine and has been given a year of supervised release plus 250 hours of community service. “The defendant, Felicity Huffman, must go to jail for one month because the only meaningful and sufficient sanction for the criminal activity she engaged in is prison,†said Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen. “There is simply no excuse for what she did.â€
Back in May, Huffman appeared in a Boston courtroom and entered a guilty plea to the charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. She was one of dozens implicated in the college-admissions scandal. At the time, she also offered a statement of contrition. “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 actions,†said Huffman. “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.â€
Huffman was released on bond shortly after her arrest in March. According to the original criminal complaint, the actress paid William Singer — the admissions consultant who was the ringleader of the scam — $15,000 to fabricate a higher SAT score for her oldest child. The payment was listed as a charitable contribution to Singer’s Key Worldwide Foundation. Along with her husband, William H. Macy, the couple is said to have considered using Singer’s services for their younger daughter as well, but did not go through with it.
Actress Lori Loughlin, meanwhile, entered a not-guilty plea with her husband, and is awaiting trial.