One could say the nationwide probe college admissions scandal that fifty people were charged as a result of is a tired story by now, but things just get weirder and weirder.
For instance, arguably the most famous of those fifty who were charged or indicted was former “Full House” actress Lori Loughlin, which is a little weird because Felicity Huffman was in much bigger projects.
But while Lori Loughlin may be getting all of the attention for now, Felicity Huffman pleaded with federal prosecutors and it’s the weirdest thing ever.
Of the weirdest things that have happened thus far in the college admissions scandal is the relationship amongst the Loughlin-Giannulli family. It’s not what’s happening amongst the family in these trying times but the amount of information being “leaked” by anonymous sources that claim to be close to the family.
There are a million examples of this so far. The worst of it is the fact the family doesn’t get along anymore and how they’re all estranged from each other. Then suddenly they support each other; then suddenly they don’t. It makes you wonder whether this is all by design.
It’s a schizophrenia that is unparalleled by anything else happening in the news right now.
But there are others in the scandal that admitted their guilt immediately and chose to accept the consequences – jail time – issued in their plea agreement.
One of those people is actress Felicity Huffman who is best known for “Desperate Housewives” and the most recent “When They See Us,” where she ironically played a vindictive prosecutor in the show based on the infamous Central Park Five case.
After a heartfelt plea to the court when she pled guilty, it was reported that Huffman would receive four months in jail, which is a far cry from what she deserved.
Huffman participated in a scheme where she paid $15,000 to have a proctor correct her daughter’s SAT scores with the hope she would be admitted into one of the elite universities in the country.
But apparently, that initial report about her jail time wasn’t exactly accurate because last week Huffman pleaded with a Boston federal judge on Friday to spare her jail time in exchange for probation, community service and a fine.
She wrote to the courts, “In my desperation to be a good mother, I talked myself into believing that all I was doing was giving my daughter a fair shot. I see the irony in that statement now because what I have done is the opposite of fair. I have broken the law, deceived the educational community, betrayed my daughter, and failed my family.”
The 56-year-old actress already pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
Her lawyers thought it would be fair to receive one year of probation, 250 hours of community service and pay a $20,000 fine. Although most experts claim that the likelihood of this happening would be “exceptionally rare” according to one source.
But U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling is pushing for one month of jail time, a year of probation after that and a $20,000 fine, a sentence he says takes into account the fact that Huffman has accepted responsibility for her actions.
Lelling says Huffman knew the scheme was wrong and participated in it anyways.
His office wrote in a filing, “Her efforts weren’t driven by need or desperation, but by a sense of entitlement, or at least moral cluelessness, facilitated by wealth and insularity. Millions of parents send their kids to college every year. All of them care as much she does about their children’s fortunes. But they don’t buy fake SAT scores.”
The good news for Huffman is that one month is still significantly less than the four months that was originally reported that she would receive.
On the other hand, she’s been on top of her admission of guilt, unlike Lori Loughlin.