Actress Felicity Huffman and 12 other parents will plead guilty in the widespread college admissions scandal, in which a group of wealthy parents allegedly sought to bribe and scam their kids’ way into prestigious universities, the U.S. attorneys’ office announced on Monday.
According to prosecutors, 13 parents — and one coach — have agreed to plead guilty to using bribery and other forms of fraud to help their children get into universities. The defendants include a number of parents who paid up to $600,000 to participate in the scheme, each of whom have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. (One parent also will also plead guilty to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the IRS, according to the U.S. attorneys’ office.) Full House actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, have also been charged with participating in the scheme, though they were not among the parents listed as pleading guilty.
Huffman had been accused of paying $15,000 to William “Rick” Singer, the alleged ringleader of the scheme — who has already pleaded guilty — to correct Huffman’s daughter’s answers on her SAT exam. Other parents charged in the scheme have been accused of similarly paying large sums to cheat on entrance exams, while others have been accused of paying Singer to fraudulently get their children into colleges as athletic recruits.
In a Monday statement, Huffman accepted full responsibility for her actions. She 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.” She stated that her daughter “knew absolutely nothing” about her actions, and expressed remorse for betraying her trust.