Though Huffman was among the most high-profile figures indicted, the $15,000 she parted with was among the smallest sums allegedly paid by any of the other parents charged in the scandal, according to court documents.<doc-sep>Huffman had indicated in April that she planned to plead guilty. In a written statement then, she expressed “deep regret and shame over what I have done,” and said she was ashamed for the pain she had caused her daughter, friends and others. She also apologized “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.”<doc-sep>BOSTON – Actress Felicity Huffman fought back tears as she pleaded guilty in Boston federal court Monday afternoon to charges in the nation's largest college admissions scandal, becoming the highest-profile defendant to admit to crimes in the blockbuster case. The former "Desperate Housewives" actress admitted to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud for paying Rick Singer, the nationwide scheme's alleged mastermind, $15,000 to have someone correct SAT answers for her oldest daughter. As part of a plea deal, federal prosecutors recommended Huffman receive a four-month prison term, substantially lower than the maximum 20 years the charges carry. A sentencing hearing for the star was set for Sept. 13. Huffman stood and raised her right hand in the courtroom, replying, "Yes, your honor," when asked by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani if she understood the terms of her plea deal. The judge accepted the agreement after going over its ramifications, reminding Huffman that she would waive her right to a trial by jury, the ability to appeal the judge's decision and other rights such as possessing a firearm. Huffman, 56, became emotional immediately before her guilty plea when discussing how her daughter has seen a neuropsychiatrist since the age of 11. She said issues related to her therapy explained why her daughter needed an extra day to take the SAT. Some parents in the sweeping admissions case have been accused of having their children fake disabilities to get approved for extra test time to facilitate cheating. “I just didn’t want to create the impression that the neuropsychiatrist had anything to do with this," Huffman said, struggling to finish her sentence. She said that just like her daughter, the neuropsychiatrist had no knowledge of her involvement. One of her attorneys, Martin Murphy, put his arm around Huffman to console her. Huffman and her legal team did not answer questions as she exited the courthouse in front of a large swarm of reporters. At the same hearing, Devin Sloane, a CEO of a water systems company in Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to paying $250,000 in bribes to Singer to falsely designate his son as a water polo player so he could gain acceptance to the University of Southern California. Given the greater dollar amount than Huffman's case, prosecutors recommended 15 to 21 months of prison time for Sloane. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen told the judge the government recommended four months in jail, the low end of sentence guidelines, in exchange for Huffman not appealing. The judge responded: "There is a trade here. They've given up something. I will accept the plea waiver." In addition, the government recommended that she receive 12 months of supervised release and pay a $20,000 financial penalty, as well as an undetermined amount of restitution and forfeiture. The actress arrived at federal court about two hours before her scheduled hearing with her brother, Moore Huffman Jr., tightly clasping her hand as she walked to the front door alongside a metal barricade that separated her from media members. Want news from USA TODAY on WhatsApp? Click this link on your mobile device to get started Actress Lori Loughlin, the other celebrity indicted by the Justice Department, has pleaded not guilty to the same charges and money laundering. Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, are accused of paying $500,000 to Singer for their daughters to be classified as athletic recruits to get them accepted into the University of Southern California. The couple has a hearing June 3. DAD PLEADS GUILTY: Paid $400K to get 'tennis player' son into Georgetown Huffman and Sloane are the fourth and fifth parents to plead guilty in the "Varsity Blues" case. An additional nine parents agreed to plead guilty and have plea hearings in the coming weeks. Rosen went over the evidence against Huffman in court Monday. Prosecutors said Huffman and her husband, actor William H. Macy, who is not charged in the case, met with Singer at the couple's Los Angeles home before her daughter's SAT exam in December 2017 to discuss how the scheme operated. Over the course of months beginning in the summer of 2017, according to prosecutors, Huffman and Singer exchanged emails in which they discussed how to double the length of test time allotted to her daughter. Rosen recounted in court how Huffman wrote “Ruh Ro!" in an email to Singer when her daughter's school said it wanted to provide its own test proctor. He said they were able to change the venue so she could take the SAT at a center operated by Igor Dvorskiy, who is accused of being involved in the scheme. Prosecutors said Mark Riddell, who pleaded guilty to secretly taking tests for students or changing their answers, flew from Tampa, Florida, to Los Angeles on Dec. 2, 2017, to proctor Huffman's daughter's exam at the West Hollywood Test Center. He flew back the next day. Huffman, choking up in court, said that she had no knowledge that Singer paid Riddell and Dvorskiy. "But everything else that Mr. Rosen said I did, I did." More:Mark Riddell, test-taker ace in college admissions cheating case, pleads guilty in court Huffman's daughter received a 1420 out of 1600 on the test, approximately 400 points higher than she earned on her PSAT taken one year earlier without Singer's assistance. Two weeks after the SAT, Singer – through his sham nonprofit Key Worldwide Foundation – paid Dvorskiy $40,000 for administering the SAT to Huffman's daughter and three other students, according to prosecutors. On Dec. 27, 2017, Singer allegedly paid Riddell $35,000. Prosecutors said Huffman and Macy wrote a $15,000 check to Singer's nonprofit group Feb. 27, 2018. The next month, a note from a Singer associate thanked them for the donation and falsely said it would "allow us to move forward with our plans to provide educational and self-enrichment programs to disadvantaged youth.” Later that year, according to the Justice Department's complaint, Huffman inquired about arranging the same cheating scheme for her younger daughter.<doc-sep>The actress is among more than 50 parents named in a federal indictment. Academy Award-nominated actress Felicity Huffman appeared in Boston federal court Monday and pleaded guilty to a charge stemming from the massive "Varsity Blues" college entrance scandal that ensnared dozens of parents nationwide who prosecutors say lied and bribed to get their children into elite schools. Huffman, 56, agreed to plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Through tears, Huffman acknowledged she was guilty of paying $15,000 to arrange for an college entrance exam proctor to correct her daughter’s answers and for her daughter to be allowed more time to take the test. In exchange for her plea, federal prosecutors consented to recommend a sentence of four months imprisonment, a year of supervised release and a $20,000 fine. In a statement last month, Huffman said she is prepared to accept her punishment. "I am pleading guilty to the charge brought against me by the United States Attorney's Office," Huffman said in her statement. "I am in full acceptance of my guilt, and with deep regret and shame over what I have done, I accept full responsibility for my actions and will accept the consequences that stem from those actions." The actress -- famous for her Academy Award-nominated role in the 2005 movie "Transamerica" and for playing one of the main characters in the ABC television show "Desperate Housewives" -- allegedly gave $15,000 to William "Rick" Singer, who prosecutors identified as the ringleader of the nationwide scam, "to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme on behalf of their oldest daughter," court documents allege. Huffman said in court Monday that she had no knowledge that Singer allegedly paid Igor Dvorskiy, a test administrator for the College Board and ACT, and Mark Riddell, who allegedly took or rigged test scores for students, to facilitating cheating scam on behalf of her daughter. "But everything else Mr. Rosen said I did I did," Huffman said in court, referring to assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen, who outlined the charge against her. Prosecutors said Huffman helped facilitate the scheme by having her daughter diagnosed with a learning disability, an excuse that allowed girl extra time to take her SAT exam. Crying in court, Huffman sought to clarify that a neuropsychologist who diagnosed her daughter with a learning disability had been seeing her since she was 8 years old and had nothing to do with the scheme. The agreement Huffman reached with prosecutors requires her to relinquish her right to appeal both her conviction and her sentence. In exchange, the government agreed to recommend the lesser sentence and to not bring additional charges. "There is a trade here. They've given up something," U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani told Huffman, referring to federal prosecutors. Huffman was ordered to return to court on Sept. 13 to be sentenced. The actress claimed in her statement last month that her daughter "knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her." Huffman and her husband, actor William H. Macy, later made arrangements to pursue the scheme a second time, for her younger daughter, before deciding not to do so, court documents allege. Macy was not charged in the scam. On March 13, federal prosecutors announced that 50 people, including 33 wealthy parents, were charged in the largest college cheating scam ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice. Also pleading guilty Monday was Devin Sloane, a Los Angeles businessman who paid $250,000 to get his son admitted to USC as a water polo recruit even though the teen never the sport. Prosecutors detailed the lengths Sloane went to photograph his son wearing water polo gear and how he got a graphic designer to make the photos look legitimate. I am in full acceptance of my guilt, and with deep regret and shame over what I have done, I accept full responsibility for my actions and will accept the consequences that stem from those actions. Those indicted in the investigation, dubbed "Operation Varsity Blues," allegedly paid bribes up to $6.5 million to get their children into elite colleges, including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and the University of Southern California, federal prosecutors said. Another well-known actress indicted in the scam is Lori Loughlin, best known for her role as Aunt Becky in the ABC sitcom "Full House." Loughlin, 54, and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, 55, allegedly agreed to pay Singer "bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team -- despite the fact that they did not participate in crew -- thereby facilitating their admission to USC," according to the indictment. Both were initially charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. When Loughlin and Giannulli declined to accept a plea deal in April, federal prosecutors filed an additional charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering against them. A superseding indictment unsealed in April alleged the couple and 14 other parents conspired to "conceal their fraud scheme by funneling bribe and other payments through the facade" of the Key Worldwide Foundation, a sham charity established Singer. Loughlin and Giannulli have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Singer has already pleaded guilty in a Boston federal court to charges of racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of justice. He's scheduled to be sentenced on June 19. Several coaches involved in the scam have also pleaded guilty, including former Yale soccer coach Rudolph "Rudy" Meredith and former Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer. One of Singer's top accomplices in the scandal, Mark Riddell, also pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering. Riddell, an alumnus of Harvard University, played a pivotal role in the scheme, taking the ACT and SAT for the students whose parents conspired with Singer to pay to help secure their admission into prestigious schools.<doc-sep>
Actress Felicity Huffman entered a guilty plea in federal court on Monday, two months after she was arrested in the college admissions cheating scheme that has ensnared wealthy parents across the nation. The "Desperate Housewives" star pleaded guilty to paying an admissions consultant $15,000 to have a proctor correct her older daughter's answers on the SAT. She reportedly considered the same for her younger daughter but decided against it. The assistant U.S. attorney recommended four months of prison time for Huffman, 56. In addition, prosecutors recommended a $20,000 fine as well as 12 months of supervised release for the charge, which is a felony. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ SLAMS JUSTICE SYSTEM AMID REPORTS OF FELICITY HUFFMAN'S POTENTIAL PRISON SENTENCE The consultant, Rick Singer, arranged for the cheating by having students obtain permission for extra time on the exams through diagnoses for things like learning disabilities, and then taking the exams at his testing center, prosecutors say. In court, Huffman explained her daughter had been seeing a neuropsychologist for years and getting extra time on tests since she was 11 — an apparent attempt to explain that her daughter's doctor had no part in the scheme. "I just didn't want to create the impression that neuropsychologists have any part in this," a tearful Huffman said before stopping to collect herself. She arrived at court holding the hand of her brother Moore Huffman Jr. and did not say anything to journalists. In court, she wore a gray dress and a sweater and sat flanked by her attorneys while her brother watched from the front row. Her husband, "Shameless" actor William H. Macy — who was not charged —did not attend Monday's hearing. Huffman, along with dozens of other rich and powerful parents — including "Full House" star Lori Loughlin — was arrested in March as part of "Operation Varsity Blues," an investigation into bribery for admissions into elite colleges. While some parents, including Huffman, reportedly paid off standardized testing proctors, others, allegedly including Loughlin, used bribes to get their children admitted as athletic recruits. Huffman was reportedly arrested and cuffed by armed FBI agents and released on a $250,000 bond. VANESSA WILLIAMS REVEALS PERSONAL TEXT FROM FELICITY HUFFMAN AFTER COLLEGE SCANDAL BROKE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCANDAL COMING TO TV The case has put the career of the Emmy-winning star in turmoil and laid bare the elite's ability to influence the education system. Huffman told Fox News in a statement last month, "I am pleading guilty to the charge brought against me by the United States Attorney's Office. I am in full acceptance of my guilt, and with deep regret and shame over what I have done, I accept full responsibility for my actions and will accept the consequences that stem from those actions." NICOLLETTE SHERIDAN SAYS 'DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES' CO-STAR FELICITY HUFFMAN'S ROLE IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCAM IS 'DISGRACEFUL' She continued, "I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community. I want to apologize to them and, especially, 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." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her," Huffman concluded. "This transgression toward her and the public I will carry for the rest of my life. My desire to help my daughter is no excuse to break the law or engage in dishonesty, The Associated Press contributed to this report.