BOSTON (WHDH) - Federal prosecutors are recommending that actress Felicity Huffman spend a month behind bars and pay a $20,000 fine for her involvement in the college admissions scandal.
The 56-year-old Emmy winning actress is set to face a judge at the Moakley Federal Courthouse and be sentenced for her role in the scandal after she pled guilty to paying $15,000 for an SAT proctor to correct her daughter’s exam.
In a letter to the judge, she expressed her regret writing, “I keep asking myself, why did I do this?”
“I have a deep and abiding shame for what I have done,” she said. “Shame and regret that I will carry for the rest of my life.”
Huffman said she thought she was doing what was best for her child.
“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,” the letter read.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said, “In the context of this case, neither probation nor home confinement (in a large home in the Hollywood Hills with an infinity pool) would constitute meaningful punishment or deter others from similar crimes.”
Huffman had many people submit character references to the judge, including one from her former costar, Eva Longoria.
“When I began the TV show, I was very new to the business and the industry as a whole,” Longoria wrote. “Felicity was the first one to take me under her wing, a young, naive Mexican girl who felt like I didn’t belong, those gestures meant the world to me.”
Along with 30 other parents including Full House actress Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli, Huffman is accused of taking part in a scheme to get children into college.
While Huffman pleaded guilty, Loughlin and her husband have chosen to plead not guilty and are preparing to go to trial.
Due to Huffman’s clean record, legal experts think it is unlikely a judge would sentence her to prison.
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