Felicity Huffman Was Released From Prison Early — As Expected

Louisa Ballhaus

Click here to read the full article.

If you blinked, you may have missed it — Felicity Huffman’s prison sentence has already come and gone. Huffman was released early from prison today, after only 11 days of her 14-day sentence. The Desperate Housewives star entered the Dublin Federal Correctional Institution on October 15.

Apparently, Huffman’s release came early because her scheduled release took place on a weekend, in which case the Bureau of Prisons can decide to release the inmate on the preceding weekday instead. The actress was serving time for her role in the college admissions scandal, which included paying scam artist Rick Singer $15,000 to have her daughter’s SAT scores boosted.

More from SheKnows

In May, Huffman accepted a plea deal and pleaded guilty in an emotional court appearance. She was charged with mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, and sentenced to 14 days in prison that September.

Now that she’s a free woman, Huffman still isn’t totally off the hook. She’ll serve one year of supervised release, during which time she’ll have to report to a probation officer and abide by certain rules, or risk going back to prison. She’ll also have to complete 250 hours of community service and pay a $30,000 fine (AKA the price of two doctored SAT scores. Too soon?).

When Huffman’s sentence was first announced, many speculated the star wouldn’t serve the full time. After all, celebrity has its perks — and lenient treatment in the legal system is often one of them. But many had also believed Huffman wouldn’t receive prison time at all and took her sentence as a sign that prosecutors were treating this case more seriously than expected.

With Huffman having served her time, the fate of other defendants in this case — including fellow celeb Lori Loughlin — still remains to be seen. If Loughlin does receive the long prison sentence many now anticipate, could she be similarly granted early release? Or is this treatment dependent on taking a plea deal, as Huffman did? We’ll have to wait and see.

Best of SheKnows

Sign up for SheKnows' Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.