Patterico's Pontifications

9/13/2019

First Parent Sentenced in “Operation Varsity Blues” College Admissions Scandal

Filed under: General — Dana @ 1:04 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Actress Felicity Huffman, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiring to pay $15,000 to a fake charity that facilitated cheating when her daughter took the SATs, was sentenced today. She is the first parent to be sentenced in the Operation Varsity Blues college admissions scandal. While prosecutors had recommended one month in jail, she ended up with a lesser sentence:

Actress Felicity Huffman has been sentenced to 14 days in prison.

Huffman also received a $30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service and one year supervised release, federal court Judge Indira Talwani said today in Boston.

Before announcing the sentencing, Talwani said Huffman knew what she did was wrong, saying, “She knew it was a fraud it was not an impulsive act.”

“Trying to be a good mother doesn’t excuse this,” the judge said.

Huffman stood before the judge in Boston and at one point read from a paper, saying, “I am sorry to you.”

She went on to apologize to her daughters and her husband, actor William H. Macy.

“I am deeply ashamed of what I have done,” Huffman told the judge. “At the end of the day I had a choice to make. I could have said ‘no.’”

More parents are to be sentenced, as well:

Huffman is the first of 34 parents to be sentenced in the scheme. The dozens of parents charged in the case paid up to $500,000 to get their children into elite schools, according to authorities, in some cases by labeling them as recruited athletes for sports they had never even played. Fifteen parents have pleaded guilty, and another 19 are fighting the charges, according to the Associated Press.

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

34 Responses to “First Parent Sentenced in “Operation Varsity Blues” College Admissions Scandal”

  1. Hello.

    Dana (fdf131)

  2. Aint america great you can get all the justice you can afford! O.j. simpson. Mercy for the rich law & order for the poor.

    lany (a5478b)

  3. “Nobody should be in jail for a nonviolent crime.” —Joe Biden

    Munroe (732181)

  4. 2. Federal prisons are full with drug dealers, murderers and such, many of them illegals. If we deter unlawful immigration for a spell, maybe we can up the sentences of non violent offenders.

    Harcourt Fenton Mudd (0c349e)

  5. So sad these kids can’t take tests for themselves. Parents are clueless. Society basically is over as we have enjoyed it. Trump will be the last republican president as Texas goes Blue.

    mg (8cbc69)

  6. 5: Well, California republicans were baying for immigration enforcement back in the day. Even before that, an old TV show called Sea Hunt, and an episode with evil boat bringing in illegals to California which is described as a big business. But the Country Club republicans knew better, so here we are.

    Harcourt Fenton Mudd (0c349e)

  7. Unless some of them are former Secretaries of State running for president with a D after their name, I imagine they’re all going to get at least a slap on the wrist.

    Munroe (732181)

  8. I’m still hoping that the 19 parents who chose not to take a plea deal all beat the rap. Not because they’re innocent, mind you, but because I think this whole case has been blown out of proportion. They and their children are all now disgraced and if the schools subsequently expel the kids then I won’t lose any sleep. Let the IRS go after the families for whatever back taxes and penalties might be due for sending money to phony charities, but then that be the end of it. Having Felicity spend 14 days in country club jail doesn’t serve any real purpose.

    JVW (54fd0b)

  9. “I’m still hoping that the 19 parents who chose not to take a plea deal all beat the rap.”
    JVW (54fd0b) — 9/13/2019 @ 1:58 pm

    That those kids and parents are disgraced matters little to the kids who fell just below the cut line. Jussi Smollett was also disgraced. So what?

    Munroe (732181)

  10. I don’t think there should even be federal jurisdiction for this.

    nk (dbc370)

  11. this discount Madoff, tobin, is chortling ‘free as a bird, guilty as sin’

    narciso (d1f714)

  12. R.I.P. Eddie Money

    Icy (6abb50)

  13. Take your criminal justice and stick it in your system. The real killer who pulled the trigger was never prosecuted and never will be.

    nk (dbc370)

  14. A little more justice:

    “After Christine Blasey Ford publicly alleged that Brett Kavanaugh tried to rape her, her father repeatedly communicated to Kavanaugh’s father that he supported Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.”

    https://thefederalist.com/2019/09/12/christine-blasey-fords-father-supported-brett-kavanaughs-confirmation/

    Please share this w anyone you know who still refers to Kavanaugh as a rapist.
    _

    harkin (58d012)

  15. Operation Varsity Blues… Operation Crossfire Hurricane… I await Operation Bring Me teh Head of Alfredo Garcia…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  16. She’ll be the only person in prison named Felicity.

    William H. Macy? As in William Hussein Macy? How did he skate?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  17. he’s the aloof conman from fargo, also he played the president in one episode of the unit,

    https://kaus.substack.com/

    narciso (d1f714)

  18. I’d say his wife got in some deep powder.

    Props to anyone who can name the film where William H Macy says those words about being in trouble.

    harkin (58d012)

  19. “Door to Door”

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  20. State and Main, just right off the top of my head,

    narciso (d1f714)

  21. Final touches being put on the IG Report, due late September/early October. Which is several months after the original window of release given in the Spring.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  22. But is 2 weeks enough time for things to progress with fellow inmates or guards to the degree he utters “Hey..that’s my wife!”

    urbanleftbehind (01a2c3)

  23. “You know, I heard you got in some deep powder back there. I heard they put you on probation.”

    “Well, you can’t believe everything you hear. Sometimes they put out a story.”

    “And so, you’re…What? So, you’re…”

    “What I am is what you see.”

    “And so your guy, he’s big back there?”

    “Babe, this is the guy behind the guy, behind the guy.”
    _
    Things Change – 1988

    harkin (58d012)

  24. so does this mean now that 14 days is a floor and the guys who paid 500K are going to get 5 months of 500 days?

    Harcourt Fenton Mudd (0c349e)

  25. Thata wasa onea dumba movie, harkin.

    nk (dbc370)

  26. Her fine is at least $100,000 short.

    Nic (896fdf)

  27. 26 – The grasshopper eat the ant.

    harkin (58d012)

  28. I went to a taping of Fallon and Bill Macy was the guest. I was surprised at how entertaining he was. He had the whole audience engaged, just on the strength of his personality. Which surprised me cause he was so mild mannered and understated in Fargo. Anyway, they seem like nice folks and her apology seemed genuine.

    JRH (52aed3)

  29. 28… that was the usual interesting Mamet film and I enjoyed Mantegna and Don Ameche’s performances. I’d seen it years ago and watched it again a year or so ago.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  30. Another one of his that was highly entertaining was the film about hitmen working at a Chicago area car lot… I remember Mantegna, Sam Rockwell, Charles Durning and many others (I think Macy was one of the victims)… good flick… looking up the name now… “Jerry and Tom”.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  31. Good stuff.

    harkin (58d012)

  32. The contract killings were just a front. The real money was in the used cars.

    nk (dbc370)

  33. “I ain’t sayin’ I did and I ain’t sayin’ I didn’t.”

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)


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