“Desperate Housewives” actress Felicity Huffman and 13 other parents across the country have agreed to plead guilty to charges stemming from a wide-ranging college-admissions cheating scandal, federal prosecutors announced Monday.
According to federal prosecutors in Boston, Huffman has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud for paying $15,000 to have her oldest daughter’s answers corrected on the SAT college-entrance exam.
It was not immediately clear if her plea deal contains any agreements on the sentence she will receive. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the conspiracy charge normally carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine up to $250,000.
A date has not yet been set for Huffman to enter her plea.
The 56-year-old actress issued a statement saying she is “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.”
“I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community,” she said. “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.
“My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her. This transgression toward her5 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.”