Felicity Huffman released a statement after she was sentenced to 14 days in prison for her part in the college admissions case on Friday, September 13.
The Desperate Housewives actress, 56, was also ordered to pay a $30,000 fine, complete 250 hours of community service and participate in a year of supervised release after she was arrested in March for paying $15,000 to improve her 19-year-old daughter Sophia’s SAT scores. Huffman, who did not make any remarks at the hearing, was sentenced in a Boston courthouse by District of Massachusetts Judge Indira Talwani. Her sentence will begin on October 25.
“I accept the court’s decision today without reservation. I have always been prepared to accept whatever punishment Judge Talwani imposed,” Huffman said in her statement to Us Weekly. “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.”
She continued, “I would like to apologize to my daughter, my husband, my family and the educational community for my actions. And I especially want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to get into college, and to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices supporting their children.”
The When They See Us star also reflected on what she’s taken away from the case since her arrest earlier this year.
“I have learned a lot over the last six months about my flaws as a person,” she said. “My goal now is to serve the sentence that the court has given me. I look forward to doing my community service hours and making a positive impact on my community. I also plan to continue making contributions wherever I can well after those service hours are completed.”
She ended her statement by vowing to be a “more honest” and “better” person for her daughters and her fans.
“I can promise you that in the months and years to come that I will try and live a more honest life, serve as a better role model for my daughters and family and continue to contribute my time and energies wherever I am needed,” she wrote.
Huffman continued, “My hope now is that my family, my friends and my community will forgive me for my actions.”
In May, the Transamerica star — who shares daughters Sophia and Georgia, 17, with husband William H. Macy — pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services fraud. Prosecutors had recommended a four-month prison sentence and $20,000 fine. The government’s recommended sentence for the actress was one month in jail, 12 months of supervised release and a fine of $20,000.
“I am 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,” Huffman said in a statement before she officially pleaded guilty in May. “I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community. 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.”
Earlier this month, Us Weekly obtained letters that Huffman and 27 of her friends and family, including Macy, 69, and Eva Longoria, wrote in support of the Georgia Rule star.
“In my desperation to be a good mother I talked myself into believing that all I was doing was giving my daughter a fair shot,” Huffman wrote in her letter to Judge Talwani.
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