Sigh of relief. Felicity Huffman is happy her prison sentence for her involvement in the college admissions scandal is not longer.
“Felicity is grateful she only received 14 days in prison,” a source tells Us Weekly exclusively. “The probation report was favorable for Felicity, but there were no guarantees that the judge could have sentenced to her a much longer term.”
Huffman, 56, hopes to be treated as any other inmate too. “She will serve the sentence, perform the community service, not expecting nor wanting any special favors,” the insider says. “This process has been incredibly humbling for Felicity.”
The judge ordered the actress to 14 days in prison, a $30,000 fine, a year of supervised release and 250 hours of community service on Friday, September 13. She pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services fraud in May following her March arrest. The counts stemmed from a $15,000 bribe she paid to boost her 19-year-old daughter Sophia’s SAT scores.
Huffman shares her eldest child and daughter Georgia, 17, with husband William H. Macy.
The Desperate Housewives alum spoke out on Friday after the ruling. “I accept the court’s decision today without reservation. I have always been prepared to accept whatever punishment Judge Talwani imposed,” she said in a statement to Us. “I broke the law. I have admitted that and I pleaded guilty to this crime. There are no excuses or justifications for my actions. Period.”
Former United States Attorney Neama Rahmani told Us on Friday that federal prison sentences as brief as Huffman’s are “almost unheard of.” According to the legal expert, “Sentences are always handed down in months or years, not days. I have never heard of a sentence of less than 30 days in a federal case. Maybe the judge felt pressure in this case.”
Rahmani noted that the Emmy winner’s approach helped: “Felicity certainly benefited from immediately accepting responsibility, not participating in the scheme for [her] younger daughter, and was at the low end of payment in terms of the bribe paid.”
