Felicity Huffman Has Been Released from Prison After Serving 11 Days of Her 14-Day Sentence
Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy's names are usually in the news for an acclaimed film role—or even an endearing red carpet pose. Lately, however, that hasn't been the case.
News broke in mid-March that Huffman was charged in the Justice Department's investigation into rigging college admissions. Nicknamed "Operation Varsity Blues," the probe concluded that numerous people had conspired "to use bribery and other forms of fraud" to get their kids into top colleges, according to court documents. (For reasons still unclear, although Macy is referred to in the court filing, he was not charged.)
That month, Huffman appeared in court, and posted a $250,000 bond. Weeks later, she plead guilty to the charges, and issued an apology. "This transgression toward [my daughter] and the public I will carry for the rest of my life," she said, per the New York Times. "My desire to help my daughter is no excuse to break the law or engage in dishonesty."
On May 13, Huffman formally plead guilty in court. According to CNN, prosecutors recommended sentencing her to four months in prison and 12 months of supervised release, on top of a $20,000 fine.
She was then sentenced to 14 days in prison. She'll also have to pay a $30,000 fine and perform 250 hours of community service, per NBC. However, after serving 11 days, Huffman was released from the low-security correctional facility on October 25. According to a prison official, she was let go early because traditionally inmates who are scheduled to leave on a weekend are dismissed on that Friday.
Here's how Huffman, Macy, and their two daughters were ensnared in the landmark investigation.
Felicity Huffman
The actress, best known for her work on Desperate Housewives and her Oscar-nominated turn in Transamerica, is accused of fixing the conditions for her older daughter Sofia's SAT test. She also allegedly explored inflating her younger daughter's score, before deciding against it.
Court documents reveal that William Singer, the central figure in the scandal, met with Huffman and William H. Macy in their home ahead of the December 2017 SAT. Singer "advised Huffman and her spouse that he 'controlled' a testing center, and could arrange for a third party to purport to proctor their daughter’s SAT and secretly correct her answers afterwards."
The result? "Ultimately, Huffman’s daughter received a score of 1420 on the SAT, an improvement of approximately 400 points over her PSAT," per the Justice Department documents.
To pay for Singer's help, Huffman and Macy reportedly made a $15,000 donation to the Key Worldwide Foundation—a fake charity that Singer had founded. An employee at the foundation then sent a reply, "falsely stating that [the donation] would 'allow us to move forward with our plans to provide educational and self-enrichment programs to disadvantaged youth," according to court documents.
William H. Macy
Macy, famous for acting in Fargo, Shameless, Boogie Nights, and numerous other movies and TV shows, has a less clear role in the scandal. He is mentioned in court documents as Huffman's spouse, but not by name, and was not charged.
At this point, it remains unclear why he was excluded from the indictments. Theories include that prosecutors may have been unsure if they had enough evidence to charge him, that he cooperated with agents, or that charges will be filed later. As Rebecca Roiphe, a New York Law School professor and former prosecutor, floated to Vulture, it's also possible that Macy was simply "far less culpable. Maybe it’s possible that the government has far more evidence than it’s laid out here, and in this evidence, that Huffman played a far more significant role than her husband."
Sofia Grace Macy
Sofia, 18, seems to be following her parents' Hollywood path. "My daughter Sofia, the oldest, is going to LAHSA [Los Angeles High School of the Arts]," Macy told Parade in January. "She’s thriving there. I know she’s going to make a go of it in the business, which I support. I’ve seen her; she’s good, she’s really good."
Macy also addressed Sofia's college admissions process. "We’re right now in the thick of college application time, which is so stressful," he said, adding that she may want to take a gap year to further her acting career. "I am voting that once she gets accepted, she maybe takes a year off. God doesn’t let you be 18 twice. I know from casting, if you need a 25-, 26-year-old actress, there are a lot of them out there and they’re really good. But if you need a 15-, 16-year-old actress, it’s tough. Sofia looks young. I think this is an opportunity for her. But it’s just my opinion, and we’ll see what she wants to do, what Felicity thinks and how the chips fall."
It's unclear whether Sofia was aware that her parents had arranged to fix her SAT scores before the news broke on Tuesday.
Georgia Grace Macy
Huffman and Macy's younger daughter Georgia, 16, has largely stayed out of the spotlight. Her father did give Parade a hint about what she was up to. "My daughter Georgia, she’s interested in politics, political science and pursuing that," he said. "She’s in a very academic school and killing it."
