Felicity Huffman will spend time behind bars for her role in the nationwide college admissions scandal.
According to TMZ, the 56-year-old actress was sentenced in a Boston federal courtroom to 14 days in prison Friday—that's about half the time prosecutors recommended in a court memo filed last week. The sentencing was announced just months after Huffman admitted to paying a proctor $15,000 to inflate her daughter's SAT scores. She pleaded guilty to mail fraud and honest services fraud back in May.
"I am deeply sorry to the students, parents, colleges and universities impacted by my actions," she said during the hearing. "I have inflicted more damage (on her daughter) than I could've ever imagined. I was frightened, I was stupid and I was so wrong. I am deeply ashamed of what I have done."
In addition to the prison time, she was fined $30,000, received a year of supervised release, and has been ordered to complete 250 hours of community service.
"This is a system which does not have a pure meritocracy and a person in position of wealth and position you are is in a much easier position in this meritocracy of college admissions," U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said in court. "I don't think anyone wants to be going to prison, I do think this is the right sentence here," Talwani added. "You move forward and you can rebuild your life after this. You pay your dues."
TMZ reports Huffman will begin her sentence Oct. 25.
Though the actress' legal team was pushing for no prison time, many Twitter users believed the sentencing was relatively light. Some said the ruling underscored the flaws of the criminal justice system, pointing to cases in which defendants received harsher punishments for similar or less serious crimes.
You can read some of the reactions below.
