Actress Felicity Huffman broke down in tears in a Boston court on Monday while pleading guilty to paying $15,000 to rig her daughter’s SAT scores, CNN reported.
Huffman and fellow actress Lori Loughlin are two of the bigest names involved in the college admissions scandal.
Full House actress Loughlin was indicted at the same time as Huffman in the scam which the FBI have dubbed operation “Varsity Blues”.
RELATED STORIES
Both women were accused of paying a man named Rick Singer to see their children admitted into college.
Huffman has now plead guilty to paying Singer $15,000 to fake a charity that facilitated cheating while her daughter took her SAT exam.
Her daughter scored a 1420 out of a possible 1600.
This score was about 400 points higher than what she scored on her preliminary SAT exam taken one year prior.
Huffman and Singer exchanged emails detailing how her daughter would be given an advantage during her exam.
In their correspondence, the two talked about Huffman’s daughter being given extra time to write her SAT exam, and also arranged for her to take the exam in a specific location. This location was controlled by an administrator Singer had bribed.
Singer has admitted to helping wealthy parents’ children chat on standardized tests.
He has also been accused of bribing college coaches into falsely recognizing prospective students as athletes which in turn accelerated their admissions process.
This is the scam Loughlin is accused of orchestrating for her children.
She and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, are accused of paying $500,000 to have both their daughters accepted to the University of South Carolina as rowing recruits, despite neither girls rowing crew.
In April, Huffman released a statement in which she expressed regret for her part in the scandal.
“I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community,” she said.
She also publicly apologized to any students or parents who might have been affected by her actions.
“I want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to get into college, and to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices to support their children and do so honestly.”
Huffman is facing a recommended sentence of four months in prison.
Prosecutors have also suggested she be fined $20,000 and be subject to 12 months supervised release.
She will be sentenced on September 13.
For his part in the scandal, Singer has plead guilty to all charges laid against him.
These charges include racketeering, money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the US, and obstruction of justice. He is due to be sentenced on September 19.
While Huffman has plead guilty, 17 other parents who are accused in the scandal submitted not-guilty pleas.
This includes Loughlin, who ET Canada reports believes she shouldn’t have to face jail time for her alleged part in the scam.
h/t: CNN
