Felicity Huffman pleaded guilty on Monday to the charge against her in the nationwide college admissions cheating case in federal court in Boston.
The guilty plea was expected, as the actress announced she would do so in April. Huffman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Federal prosecutors recommended a sentence of four months of prison time, according to CNN. In addition, prosecutors also suggested that Huffman receive a $20,000 fine and 12 months of supervised release.
“I am pleading guilty to the charge brought against me by the United States Attorney’s Office,” Huffman said in a statement in April. “My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her,” she added.
According to an affidavit, Huffman and her spouse — “Shameless” star William H. Macy, who was not identified by his name or charged in the affidavit — donated $15,000 “to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme on behalf of her oldest daughter.”
Huffman, along with actress Lori Loughlin, was arrested in March as part of a nationwide college admissions cheating case. In total, the people arrested were charged with paying bribes of up to $6 million to get their children into top universities like Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and USC in what authorities described as the “largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice.”
According to the charging documents, Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli “agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team — despite the fact that they did not participate in crew — thereby facilitating their admission to USC.”
Annapurna Television has enlisted “American Crime Story” vet D.V. DeVincentis to adapt the story of the college admission case, it announced last week.