From Desperate Housewife to Anxious Inmate! Last month, actress Felicity Huffman was sentenced to 14 days in prison for her involvement in the now-infamous college admissions bribery scandal. Today, the 56-year-old actress turned herself over to authorities to begin her two-week sting behind bars. In a way, the sentence is the sort of compromise that satisfies no one. Prosecutors initially pushed for a much harsher sentence of four months for Huffman. Her lawyers were able to whittle that recommendation down to one month, and in the end, the judge in her case dealt out a shockingly light slap-on-the-wrist sentence of just four months. The decision left Huffman in tears in the courtroom, but also led to widespread outrage among the many who (rightly) believe Huffman was a beneficiary of white privilege. In short, she’ll suffer the indignity of spending two weeks in a county-orange jumpsuit, but the consensus will remain that she got away with it and never paid her debt to society. Huffman’s sentence is a very short one — but in all likelihood, her reputation and career prospects are irreparably ruined. Huffman will serve her time in a detention center just outside of San Francisco — and her team is already spinning this into a case of her bravely facing her punishment. You know, the punishment she desperately tried to wriggle out of. “Ms. Huffman is prepared to serve the term of imprisonment Judge Talwani ordered as one part of the punishment she imposed for Ms. Huffman’s actions,” Huffman’s representative said in a prepared statement released today, “She will begin serving the remainder of the sentence Judge Talwani imposed — one year of supervised release, with conditions including 250 hours of community service — when she is released.” Huffman was convicted of paying a fraudulent proctor to help her daughter cheat on the SATs, thus ensuring admission to the college of her choice. Fifty other parents were ensnared in the FBI’s Operation Varsity Blues sting operation, but along with fellow actress Lori Loughlin, Felicity became one of the two faces of the college admissions bribery scandal. Unlike Huffman, Loughlin did not accept a plea deal, and is now gearing up to fight the charges against her in criminal court. She stands accused of doling out $500,000 in bribes in order to ensure her two daughters’ admission to USC. At this point, it seems highly unlikely that Loughlin will avoid prison time. “I don’t think I’d be giving away any state secrets by saying we would probably ask for a higher sentence for her than we did for Felicity Huffman,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling of the District of Massachusetts told NBC News today. We’ll have further updates on this developing story as more information becomes available.
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Felicity Huffman Begins 14-Day Prison Sentence
