The actress` legal team included letters to Huffman`s judge and 27 other people, including Macy, friends like former co-star Eva Longoria and other family members, each vouching for her character. She faced Friday in federal court in Boston with a prosecutor who argued for a one-month prison sentence and told Judge Huffman that he had shown “contempt and contempt for the rule of law” through fraud. But her legal team argued that she should not be treated “harder” because of her wealth and fame. “When a poor single mother in Akron who is actually trying to provide her children with a better education goes to jail, there is no reason for a rich and privileged mother to avoid the same fate with all legal means at her disposal,” Eric S. Rosen, the lead prosecutor in the case, told the court. Huffman was not originally intended to be the first parent to be convicted. But the hearings of two other parents, Stephen Semprevivo and Devin Sloane, originally scheduled for earlier this week, have been postponed so the judge can raise the legal issue of financial losses. In a letter to the court filed last week, she explained how, after nearly a year of working with Singer to improve her child`s chances of participating in a theater program of her choice, she “finally got to the day I said yes to the illegal fraud program.” You can rebuild your life after that,” the judge said. Huffman said her daughter was unaware of the plan until the actress was arrested on March 12. Two days after the arrest, Macy writes, her eldest daughter was on her way to an audition at a school where she had put her heart — a school that didn`t require SAT grades.
But when she got off the plane, the school emailed her and revoked her invitation to audition because of the scandal. Before the verdict was announced, prosecutors rejected Huffman`s earlier statements about parental anxiety and worry, saying, “Welcome to parenthood.” They pointed to other systematic cases of education fraud in which defendants were sentenced to prison terms. “I want to apologize especially to the students who work hard every day to get into college and their parents who make huge sacrifices to support their children,” Huffman said in the statement. Huffman is one of 15 parents who have pleaded guilty to various charges. “The outrage is not the damage done to colleges,” Talwani said of a case that has attracted enormous media attention. “Outrage is the system that is already so distorted. They asked for a relatively lighter sentence — one month — for Ms. Huffman, in part, they said, because she paid less than many other parents and because she chose not to include her youngest daughter in the program. In addition to cheating on tests, some parents are accused of conspiring to bribe college coaches to pass off their children as sports rookies in sports they often didn`t play. Huffman`s lawyers argued that criminal guidelines in these cases were much higher and reserved for the brains of the systems, not just the participants. The case was seen as an indicator of what other defendants are facing.
Over the next two months, nearly a dozen more parents are to be convicted. Fifteen have pleaded guilty, while 19 are battling charges. Prosecutors, meanwhile, had argued that universities and testing companies were the victims of the programs and that the amount paid by parents should match the severity of the penalties. She wrote that Singer eventually offered a proctor to increase the girl`s score after she took the test without the girl`s knowledge. Huffman struggled with the offer for weeks before giving in, she wrote. Huffman pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud on a single charge in May as part of a settlement with prosecutors. The prosecution had asked for a prison sentence to send the message that white-collar criminals cannot simply buy their way out of prison. Huffman was one of 50 people charged in a wide-ranging investigation into college admissions fraud revealed last month by federal prosecutors in Boston. On Monday, prosecutors said 14 people — 13 parents and one coach — would plead guilty in the case.
The dates of formal pleadings before the court had not yet been set. The amount paid by Huffman is relatively small compared to the other bribes claimed in the program. Some parents are accused of paying up to $500,000. CNN`s Mark Morales reported from Boston, while Dakin Andone reported and wrote this story in Atlanta. CNN`s Eric Levenson contributed to this report. The U.S. District Attorney`s Office for the District of Massachusetts declined to comment. To pay for Singer`s help, Huffman and Macy reportedly donated $15,000 to the Key Worldwide Foundation — a fake charity singer had founded. An employee of the foundation then sent a response in which he “falsely stated that [the donation] would allow us to advance our plans to provide education and personal enrichment programs to underprivileged youth,” according to court documents. It was the first conviction of a parent – a parent who happens to be famous.
Huffman wrote that before paying $15,000 to manipulate her daughter`s SAT test, she legally worked with Singer`s college consulting and preparation firms for a year to try to improve her eldest daughter`s SAT math scores. BOSTON (AP) — Actress Felicity Huffman, who is in jail for her role in the nation`s biggest college admissions scandal, cried, her voice broke when she told a courtroom she wished she had never participated in a plan to inflate her daughter`s SAT score. Previously, she would sit quietly and stoically while a prosecutor ticked off all the reasons why probation would not be enough punishment. Macy, 69, said her daughter “certainly paid the highest price” when the desired school — which was not named in court documents — revoked her admission after Huffman`s arrest. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani also sentenced Huffman to a $30,000 fine, a one-year supervised release and 250 hours of community service for paying $15,000 for someone to correctly answer her eldest daughter, Sophia`s SAT exam. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen pleaded for time behind bars, citing a letter Huffman submitted to the judge last week in which she attempted to explain why she participated in the program.
“With all due respect to the accused,” Rosen said, “welcome to parenthood.”