ABC/Image Group LA(LOS ANGELES) — Actress Felicity Huffman was released from prison Friday after serving time for her involvement in the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal.
The former Desperate Housewives star served 11 days of an initial 14-day sentence, with her early release coming because of a Bureau of Prisons rule that allows for early release when the original end date is set to happen over a weekend or holiday. The Bureau of Prisons reports that Huffman’s scheduled release date was set for Sunday, Oct. 27.
Huffman, 56, was sentenced to jail time as well as ordered to pay a $30,000 fine, complete 250 hours of community service and serve one year of probation. These penalties came as a result of her guilty plea to fraud and conspiracy after paying someone $15,000 to correct and improve her daughter’s SAT exam.
Huffman was the first parent to be sentenced following her guilty plea last May to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
At sentencing, Huffman apologized, declaring, “I am deeply sorry to the students, parents, colleges, and universities who have been impacted by my actions. I am sorry to my daughter Sophia, my daughter Georgia, and I am sorry to my husband Bill [actor William H. Macy]. I have betrayed them all.”
Federal prosecutors accused Huffman of stepping over a moral line for which she deserved prison time, despite her request to avoid it.
“In prison, there is no paparazzi,” assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen said at the time. “Prison, as we’ve pointed out, is the great leveler. Prison is necessary here.”
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