BOSTON — Prosecutors in the case against actress Felicity Huffman have recommended a prison term of one month and a fine of $20,000 after Huffman pleaded guilty in the college admissions bribery scam.
The recommendation also asks for a full year of supervised release following the one-month incarceration stint, Boston 25 News reported.
The submission was made by attorney Andrew E. Lelling on Friday. In the subsequent court documents, prosecutors explain their reasoning for the recommended punishment:
"It would provide just punishment for the offense, make clear this was a real crime, causing real harm, and reinforce the vital principal that all are equally subject to the law regardless of wealth or position," the documents said.
Prosecutors go on to mention what they believe were the motivating factors behind Huffman's actions, which include paying an admissions consultant $15,000 to have a proctor correct her older daughter's answers on the SAT. Huffman pleaded guilty in May 2019.
"(Huffman) actions weren't driven by need or desperation, but by a sense of entitlement, or at least moral cluelessness, facilitated by wealth and insularity. Millions of parents send their kids to college every year. All of them care as much as she does about their children's fortunes. But they don't fake SAT scores and joke about it."
Several people, including multiple relatives, wrote recommendation letters on Huffman's behalf to the presiding judge, the Honorable Indira Talwani. Included in the 27 people who wrote on Huffman's behalf are her husband, William H. Macy, and her fellow "Desperate Housewives" cast member Eva Longoria Baston.
In one of the letters, Jessie Huffman, a niece of Felicity, told of how her aunt helped influence her to become a social worker and serve her community.
She went on to add that Huffman had allowed her to live in her home when Jessie moved to Colorado.
Douglas E. Phelps, the former head of school at Park Century School, wrote to the judge about his impressions of Huffman's relationship with her daughter's academic life. Georgia Huffman, one of Huffman's daughters, attended Park Century School through eighth grade, Phelps said.
"Felicity always struck me as a parent who did not hover or do everything that her daughter should be doing for herself," Phelps wrote, adding that Huffman was "not a parent to do the tasks taken on by Georgia."
Another educator who wrote a letter on Huffman's behalf was Dr. Barry Munitz, who described himself as "the former Chancellor of the California State University system."
Munitz, in his recommendation, wrote about the time he spent with Huffman and her husband. He wrote of how Huffman and Macy helped with the two high schools housed on Cal State Los Angeles' campus, one of which, Munitz said, Huffman's daughter attended.
"(Huffman and Macy) were obviously deeply concerned and generous parents not only interested in their own child's experience ... but also willing to contribute their time, funds, and network on behalf of subsequent generations of students and their families."
Two of Huffman's nephews, Buck Jones and Moore Huffman, also advocated for Huffman in their letters to the judge, sharing personal anecdotes about how Huffman helped each of them during their lives.
Jones' letter mentions how Huffman helped care for him after he was in a car accident in his youth and after his mother, Huffman's sister, died in the last decade. Moore Huffman wrote of a reunion with friends that Huffman organized and hosted at her house in Los Angeles.
Another letter by a second man named Moore Huffman was also written, in which the author stated that he is Huffman's brother.
Thomas Alderson, who said that Huffman's sister, Jessie, was his "soul mate," also wrote a recommendation. So did Mary McCann and Neil Pepe, who are friends and colleagues of Huffman's dating back to the 1970s. All three mentioned specific times the actress helped them during challenging times in their lives.
Cox Media Group