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Following guilty pleas by a Hillsborough couple earlier this month, actress Felicity Huffman on Monday became yet another parent to enter a guilty plea in the nationwide college admissions scandal.
Huffman, the former “Desperate Housewives” star, entered her guilty plea at the U.S. District Court in Boston to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Her plea acknowledges that she paid $15,000 to admissions consultant William “Rick” Singer to have her 18-year-old daughter’s SAT scores illegally boosted to help her gain admissions to a selective U.S. college, reports say.
Huffman was “tearful” when entering her plea, TMZ reported. The Emmy-winning actress, 56, also disclosed that her daughter had suffered learning disabilities throughout her childhood.
According to reports, one notable person was not present when Huffman had her day in court: William H. Macy, her husband of more than 20 years and fellow Hollywood star.
It’s not known why Macy, star of TV’s “Shameless,” did not attend the hearing. It also has not been made clear why he was not charged in the case, even though the criminal complaint shows that Macy appeared to be aware of his wife’s alleged scheme with Singer and may even have participated in some of the planning, according to the New York Times.
After being one of 33 wealthy parents charged with paying Singer to give their children illegal advantages in the fraught college admissions process, Huffman became one of the most well-known and most vilified figures in the scandal. Both she and co-defendant Lori Loughlin, also a once-beloved TV star, have been held up as the worst examples of helicopter parenting and Hollywood excess and entitlement “gone wrong,” the New York Times said.
Last month, Huffman joined 12 other parents, including Bruce and Davina Isackson of Hillsborough, in announcing that they would enter guilty pleas.
Bruce and Davina Isackson entered their guilty pleas earlier this month, acknowledging they paid Singer a total of $600,0000 to bribe their two daughters’ way into USC and UCLA. The couple both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Bruce Isackson also pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS. The couple are expected to be sentenced July 31.
Huffman is scheduled to be sentenced in September, it was said Monday.
A federal prosecutor told the court Monday that the U.S. Attorney’s Office will ask that the actress be sentenced to four months in prison and pay a $20,000 fine, TMZ reported. The prosecutor noted that his office could have sought a more serious money laundering charge, which could carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, but opted to go light on Huffman. Prosecutors earlier said they would seek lesser prison sentences against Huffman and other parents who had agreed to plead guilty.
When announcing her intention last month to plead guilty, Huffman also issued a statement in which she offered no excuses while apologizing for the pain she had caused “the educational community,” her friends and her family, notably her oldest daughter, 18.
Huffman insisted that her daughter had no knowledge of her actions, admitting she had “betrayed her.”
Huffman said she especially wanted 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.”
“This transgression toward (my daughter) and the public I will carry for the rest of my life,” she concluded in her statement. “My desire to help my daughter is no excuse to break the law or engage in dishonesty.”
With regard to Macy, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Massachusetts declined to comment on why he has not been charged, saying the investigation was continuing, the New York Times reported.
A representative for the couple also did not respond to a request from the Times for comment.
The Times, citing the criminal complaint, said Macy, 69, also had contact with Singer, who has pleaded guilty to racketeering and other crimes related to the case.
Singer told federal investigations that he met with Huffman and Macy at their home in Los Angeles and “explained, in substance, how the college entrance exam scheme worked,” the complaint said.
Singer also said he told Huffman and Macy that he “controlled” a testing center, and “could arrange for a third party … to proctor their daughter’s SAT and secretly correct her answers afterwards,” the complaint said. Moreover, Singer told investigators that both Huffman and Macy agreed to the plan, the complaint added.
Macy’s alleged role in the planning left some legal experts perplexed about why prosecutors did not also charge him. But Bradley D. Simon, a former assistant United States attorney, told the Times that “prosecutors have discretion as to who they charge.”
Simon said Macy may have cooperated with investigators and provided important information about others’ involvement, though he added it’s not likely he spoke out against his wife.
“He also could get charged in the future,” Simon said.
This story is developing.
