Delinquent housewife: Tearful Felicity Huffman reveals her daughter has a learning disability as she enters guilty plea in deal that will land her in prison for at least FOUR months
- Felicity Huffman entered a plea of guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud
- She was facing a maximum of 20 years in imprison, but prosecutors recommended she serve just four months and pay a $20,000 fine
- The actress, 56, was accompanied by her brother Moore Huffman Jr in the courthouse but not her husband William H Macy
- Huffman and Macy have two daughters who are both in high School back in California
- Devin Sloane also entered a guilty plea on Monday and was recommended to serve 12 months and a day in prison while paying a $75,000 fine
- The father paid a $250,000 bribe ad doctored photos of his child to look like a water polo player in order to help him gain entrance to USC
Felicity Huffman will be sentenced to at least four months in prison after entering a guilty plea to a single charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.
The actress, 56, appeared stoic on Monday in a Boston courtroom as she entered her plea in the Operation Varsity Blues case, two months after being indicted along with 32 other parents.
She was not joined by her husband William H Macy, whose career has suffered no repercussions from this case despite the indictment showing his involvement in the plot to get their older and younger daughter a higher test scored by facilitating a bribe through William Rick Singer.
Huffman teared up at one point as she told the judge that her daughter suffered from a learning disability throughout her life, which is why she sought to cheat on the standardized test.
Prosecutors with the US Attorney's office then recommended that Huffman serve a sentence of four months in prison, followed by a full year of supervised release.
In addition, lawyers with the US Attorney's office asked the judge to fine Huffman $20,000 for making a $15,000 payment to facilitate a proctor editing thew answers on her daughter's SAT test.
Huffmann attended court with her brother on Monday, holding hands with Moore Huffman Jr as she entered and exited the federal courthouse.
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Head high: Felicity Huffman entered a plea of guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud
Difficulty: Huffman told the judge that he daughter had struggled with a learning disability throughout her life
Holding hands:The actress, 56, was accompanied by her brother Moore Huffman Jr in the courthouse but not her husband William H Macy
Family affair: She was facing a maximum of 20 years in imprison, but prosecutors recommended she serve just four months ( Huffman and her brother) ( l to r: Sofia, Georgia, William and Felicity Huffman)
Huffman's moved-up court date will provide a relief of sorts for Netflix no doubt, the current distributor of Huffman's upcoming miniseries about the Central Park Five.
Huffman portrays Linda Fairstein, the former chief of the sex crimes unit at the Manhattan District Attorney's office, in When They See Us, which is directed by Ava DuVernay and set for release on May 31.
This new court date gives the story more time to die down ahead of the series premiere.
Netflix did however cancel the release of a new film starring Huffman that was set to premiere in April.
The suddenly-shelved comedy Otherhood, which stars Huffman, Angela Basset and Patricia Arquette, will no longer be released this spring a production source told DailyMail.com.
The film, which follows three mothers who move to New York to surprise their adult children, does not have a future release date at this time and a company spokesperson declined to comment when asked when the film would premiere.
Netflix was previously forced to deal with fallout from a celebrity scandal last year after it was alleged that Kevin Spacey had sexually assaulted multiple underage men.
Huffman was not the only parent entering a guilty plea on Monday in front of Judge Indira Talwani.
Devin Sloane, who is the founder and president of the drinking and wastewater provider waterTALENT, also entered the same plea to the same charge.
The millionaire admitted to buying gear off Amazon and making his son pose in a pool to appear to be a water polo player.
He then sent those photos and a $250,000 donation to Key Worldwide, who in turn guaranteed that his son would be presented as a member of the team, thus skirting the traditional admissions process.
Searching for a sign: Huffman committed the least serious offense of any of those indicted
Sloane also entered a guilty plea to a charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.
The plea agreement that was submitted to the court reveals that Sloane will have pay a maximum fine of $250,000; a mandatory special assessment of $100; restitution; and forfeiture to the extent charged in the Information.
He will also have to serve time behind bars, though far less then the 20 years that the charge carries in some cases.
Instead, prosecutors said that they will recommend between 15 and 21 months in federal prison.
That was not the initial deal however, with prosecutors recommending he served a year and as day behind bars while paying a $75,000 fine.
A court filing submitted the the US District Court for the State of Massachusetts in Boston last month actually pushed up the date of Huffman's plea.
Eric Rosen with the US Attorney's office informed Judge Talwani in the filing that he would be unable to appear that day because of a trip that will take him out of the country.
'The Government has conferred with defense counsel for Defendant, who has graciously consented to this request,' explained Rosen in the court filing, which was obtained by DailyMail.com.
Fullest house: Lori Loughlin and her family have opted to fight the charges (l to r: Olivia, Lori, Massimo and Isabella)
Morning Lori: (Loughlin above on April 3 heading into court in Boston)
Huffman admitted to paying $15,000 to a fake charity to facilitate cheating on her daughter Sofia's SATs in April.
Soon after the statement broke, the actress released a statement saying she was 'ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community.'
The Emmy-winning actress also stated: 'My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her.'
Fellow actress Lori Loughlin, on the other hand, might be in the pre-trial phase for over a year, with the Full House star fighting back hard and entering a not guilty plea against the claims she paid to get her eldest daughter into USC.
Loughlin and her husband are facing jail time because they opted to use the athletics route to gain their daughters admittance into University of Southern California - similar to Sloane.
This required daughters Isabella and Olivia, who had never before rowed in their lives, to pretend they were on crew teams.
In order to sell that, they posed for photos on ergometers, suggesting that they were both aware and willing participants in their parents' plan.
Furthermore, Olivia knowingly had Singer's team fill out her college applications according to the complaint.
'On or about December 12, 2017, Loughlin e-mailed [Singer], copying Giannulli and their younger daughter [Olivia], to request guidance on how to complete the formal USC application, in the wake of her daughter’s provisional acceptance as a recruited athlete,' states the complaint.
'Loughlin wrote: "[Our younger daughter] has not submitted all her colleges [sic] apps and is confused on how to do so. I want to make sure she gets those in as I don’t want to call any attention to [her] with our little friend at [her high school]. Can you tell us how to proceed?"'
In response, Singer wrote an email 'directing an employee to submit the applications on behalf of the Giannullis’ younger daughter [Olivia].
Loughlin and 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,' according to the documents.
The couple emailed Singer in 2016 about their daughters college prospects, stating that they wanted to do the necessary work to see that the girls got into USC as opposed to ASU.