Felicity Huffman and 12 wealthy parents plead guilty in a scam at college admission



[ad_1]

Huffman, the star of "Desperate Housewives," pleaded guilty to paying $ 15,000 to a false association associated with Rick Singer to facilitate his daughter's deception at SAT, the complaint said.

"I fully acknowledge my guilt, and with deep regret and shame for what I have done, accept responsibility for my actions and accept the consequences that flow from them," she said. in a statement.

"I am ashamed of the pain I have caused to my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community, and I wish to apologize to them and, in particular, my apologies to the students who work hard every day to get to the university and their parents, who make huge sacrifices to support their children and do it honestly.

"My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions and, erroneously and deeply mistaken, I betrayed her, this transgression to her and to the public that I will carry all my life. does not constitute an excuse to break the law or engage in dishonesty, "she said.

Huffman, Gregory and Marcia Abbott, Jane Buckingham, Gordon Caplan, Robert Flaxman, Agustin Huneeus Jr., Marjorie Klapper, Peter Jan Sartorio, Stephen Semprevivo and Devin Sloane have all been charged with conspiracy to commit postal fraud and honest services . and agreed to plead guilty, prosecutors said.

Bruce Isackson and Davina Isackson will plead guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest service fraud, and Bruce Isackson will also plead guilty to money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the IRS for taking a deduction tax for the bribe.

Finally, Michael Center, the former male tennis coach of the University of Texas, has agreed to plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and service fraud. honest.

More than a dozen guilty pleas

Actress Lori Loughlin is appearing in federal court in Boston on Wednesday, April 3, 2019 to face charges in connection with a corruption scandal at a national college.

Rick Singer, who ran a college readiness business, devised what prosecutors have called the largest scheme of academic admission fraud ever pursued in the United States.

Singer helped wealthy parents cheat with standardized tests for their children, and bribed college coaches to falsely designate children as recruited athletes, making admission easier.

The program helped students access highly selective universities such as Yale, Stanford, the University of Southern California and UCLA.

Several of the central figures in the case have already pleaded guilty, including Singer. Yale's women's football coach, Rudy Meredith, who accepted a bribe to help a student be admitted, and Mark Riddell, who cheated for students on SATs and ACTs, accepted to plead guilty and are cooperative witnesses of the lawsuit.

John Vandemoer, former head coach of sailing at Stanford University, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering.

But a number of the defendants in the case have given no sign of a guilty plea, including the "Full House" actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, the fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli.

Loughlin and Giannulli reportedly agreed to pay $ 500,000 in bribes in exchange for the designation of their two daughters as recruits to the USC team, which would facilitate their acceptance at the school.

What Huffman did

The criminal complaint says that Huffman and Singer exchanged several emails on how to get more time for SAT from his daughters.

They then arranged for Huffman's daughter to take the SAT to a location controlled by a Singer-corrupted administrator, the complaint said. Riddell, the brain of the operation, then flew out of Tampa California to cheat on the test of Huffman's daughter.

How 34 recorded phone calls helped prosecutors reduce college admissions scam

Huffman 's daughter earned a score of 1,420 out of a maximum of 1,600 at the SAT, a score of about 400 points from her SAT preliminary examination the previous year. Huffman later discussed this ploy during a recorded appeal with Singer, according to the complaint.

In court last week, Huffman acknowledged his rights, his charges and the maximum possible sentences. She waived a pre-trial hearing, signed the conditions for her release and was free to leave. Her husband, actor William H. Macy, is not charged in the case.

Prosecutors will seek a prison sentence for all defendants, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation. The defendants risk between six and 21 months in prison if they are convicted or plead guilty, added the official, although the exact sentence would depend on several factors.

USC, Georgetown University and other schools involved in this project have announced that they are currently reviewing the admission requirements for students accused of participating. Yale and Stanford have each expelled students associated with the scam.

[ad_2]

Source link