There will be no court battle for actress Felicity Huffman in the wake of the college admissions bribery scandal. According to Fox News, she has now entered a guilty plea, accepting “full responsibility” for her participation in Operation Varsity Blues while apologizing profusely.
“I am pleading guilty to the charge brought against me by the United States Attorney’s Office,” Huffman said in a statement obtained by the outlet.
The “Desperate Housewives” actress went on to say she is ready to accept the consequences for her actions, admitting she has caused pain to her family and the “educational community.”
“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 the statement. “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.”
Huffman not only apologized to her loved ones but also to the hard-working students who may have been harmed as a result of the bribery scandal. “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,” she said.
Lastly, Huffman pleaded that her daughter did not participate in the scandal and knew nothing about her actions. “My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her. This transgression toward her and the public I will carry for the rest of my life. My desire to help my daughter is no excuse to break the law or engage in dishonesty,” she concluded.
Huffman, along with two other defendants, pleaded guilty to “one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, federal prosecutors,” according to Fox News. A cooperating witness told the court that he met with Huffman and her husband, actor William H. Macy, in their Los Angeles home where he arranged to have their daughter take a rigged college entrance exam that would alter her answers. Though Macy agreed to the scheme, he was not charged alongside his wife.
“Full House” actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, are also alleged to have participated in the scam and have been charged. They have not addressed the charges publicly.