• Felicity Huffman is an American actress
  • She was involved in a massive fraud scandal
  • Huffman says she simply had to do it

The Oscar-nominated actress took us back to the scheme that saw the rich and famous, including Huffman herself, caught in a web of bribery and fraud to sneak their offspring into top-tier universities like Yale and USC. Dubbed "Operation Varsity Blues," the scandal unfolded after a government investigation revealed the lengths to which parents would go for their children's education.

Felicity had no other choice apparently

"And I know hindsight is 20/20 but it felt like I would be a bad mother if I didn’t do it," Huffman told KABC. "So – I did it." Huffman was sentenced in September 2019 to 14 days in prison, a year of probation and 250 hours of community service. She was fined $30,000.

Her husband, actor William H. Macy, was not charged.

Admissions consultant Rick Singer was sentenced in January 2023 to 3 1/2 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $10 million for receiving money from parents to inflate test scores and bribe school authorities.

Huffman, who served a brief 11-day stint behind bars in 2019, paid a whopping $15,000 to the scandal's puppet master, William "Rick" Singer, to tamper with her daughter's SAT scores. Reflecting on her actions, Huffman shared a narrative of trust and desperation.

"I worked with a highly recommended college counselor named Rick Singer. I trusted him implicitly," she confessed. As Singer's true colors emerged, Huffman felt cornered into making a decision she now deeply regrets. "It seemed like my only option to give my daughter a future," she admitted.

The plot thickens as Huffman, who kept her daughter Sophia in the dark, recalled her inner turmoil while driving her to the SAT exam. "Turn around, just turn around," she thought, but the wheels of fate had already been set in motion. Huffman's guilty plea to altering her daughter's exam answers was a cry of a mother's misguided love, as she wrote to a judge in 2019, questioning her own moral compass.

While Huffman completed her sentence, which included 250 hours of community service, her husband, "Shameless" star William H. Macy, remained uncharged. There's a silver lining. Her daughter Sophia retook the SAT on her own merit and is now studying at Carnegie Mellon University.

Turning a page

The mastermind behind it all, Rick Singer, wasn't as lucky. Sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison and ordered to forfeit $10 million, Singer's empire built on deceit crumbled.

Huffman performed her community service with a non-profit organization called A New Way of Life. It helps women who have been incarcerated with housing, clothing and job training.

"Well, I thought we would bring her in and put her at a desk and have her work in the office. And she said, ‘No, I want to do real work,’" founder Susan Burton said. "She went jogging down Central Avenue in South LA and created exercise classes for the women."

Also interesting:

Huffman also helped the group organize its donations, Burton said. She has now joined the organization’s board of directors.

"I want to use my experience and what I’ve gone through and the pain to bring something good, which is to shine a light on the organization," Huffman said.

"Felicity Huffman is one of the most beautiful people I’ve met in my lifetime," Burton said. "And I know she has had a hiccup. But it’s not the hiccup – it’s how you come through the hiccup."