Felicity Huffman should plead guilty Monday in a university scandal

May 13, 2019, 00:56 UTC

By Alex Johnson

Actress Felicity Huffman, who admitted paying big money to help her daughter go to college, is expected to plead guilty Monday in federal court in Boston.

Huffman, an Oscar nominee who starred in ABC's ABC show "Desperate Housewives", agreed to plead guilty last month to conspiracy to commit postal fraud and honest service fraud, according to news reports. court records.

She is part of a dozen parents who have agreed to plead guilty to date as part of Operation Varsity Blues, an FBI operation highlighting a network of wealthy parents who have paid millions of dollars. dollars to William Rick Singer to increase the chances of their children to embark on prestigious colleges.

Huffman admitted to having paid $ 15,000 for his eldest daughter to have more time to complete his test and for a supervisor to correct the answers. In March, Singer pleaded guilty to conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, fraud plotting in the United States and obstruction of justice.

Huffman could be sentenced to four to ten months in prison, legal analysts said.

"Felicity Huffman looks like many white-collar accused for the first time," said Danny Cevallos, legal analyst for NBC News. "She goes to court to plead guilty, cooperate with the government, get the lowest possible sentence and continue her life."

Another leading actress, Lori Loughlin, and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, are accused of agreeing to pay $ 500,000 to a fake charity to improve their daughters' chances of being admitted to University of Southern California.

Loughlin, who is free of a $ 1 million bail, pleaded not guilty last month. Cevallos may have made a mistake.

"The white-collar accused, like Lori Loughlin, who have problems for the first time in their lives, often have a hard time understanding what they face when they are tried in federal court," she said. he declared.

"Lori Loughlin pleaded not guilty and soon after, the government hit him with several charges," he said. "It's the continuation of the government 101 – the longer it waits, the more likely it will be."