Felicity Huffman Has Been Sentenced to 14 Days in Prison

Felicity Huffman, the former Desperate Housewives star who made headlines earlier this year for her involvement in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal, was sentenced in a Boston court on Friday afternoon to 14 days in prison. Huffman also received a $30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service, and one year supervised release. “You can rebuild your life after this. You’ve paid your dues,” Judge Indira Talwani told her.

Huffman and fellow actress Lori Loughlin were among administrators, coaches, and parents named in a Justice Department investigation nicknamed “Operation Varsity Blues”. The investigation indicted 51 people accused of trying to pay wealthy applicants’ ways into elite colleges; parents like Huffman and Loughlin are facing charges for allegedly paying a total of over $25 million to William Rick Singer, who has been accused of inflating test scores and bribing college officials.

Huffman stood accused of paying $15,000 to doctor her daughter’s SAT scores—the official charge was “conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services fraud”— and originally faced a maximum of up to five years in prison. Her lawyers had asked the court for one year’s probation and 250 hours of community service in addition to a $20,000 fine.

Huffman sent the judge an emotional letter last week, writing, “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.” Huffman apologized to the judge as well as her daughters and husband, Shameless star William H. Macy, in court on Friday. In response to the content of Huffman’s letter, assistant U.S. attorney Eric Rosen said, “With all due respect to the defendant, welcome to parenthood.”

Huffman must report to the Bureau of Prisons in six weeks.

Originally Appeared on Vogue