Actress Felicity Huffman and a dozen other wealthy parents swept up in the far-reaching college admissions scandal have agreed to plead guilty after being charged in scheme, according to court records.
Huffman is among scores of people facing criminal charges in the scandal, which has snared coaches, administrators and parents.
The scheme centered on William "Rick" Singer, the owner of a for-profit Newport Beach, Calif., college admissions company that parents are accused of paying to help their children cheat on college entrance exams and that allegedly falsified athletic records of students to enable them to secure admission to elite schools _ including UCLA, the University of Southern California, Stanford, Yale and Georgetown _ according to court records.
Huffman was charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.
The actress is accused of disguising a $15,000 charitable payment in the bribery scheme, according to court records. Prosecutors alleged she met with a confidential witness who explained that he could control an SAT testing center and arrange for someone to proctor her daughter's test and correct it.
The actress' older daughter took the test in December 2017 and received a score of 1420. That was a 400-point improvement from her first test. In October, the FBI recorded Huffman discussing the same scheme for her younger daughter; however, she did not ultimately pursue it.
Her husband, actor William H. Macy, has not been charged by federal prosecutors.
The court documents mention Macy much less than Huffman, but they suggest Macy knew about many of the activities. Singer met with the couple at their home and laid out parts of the plan, court records show.
The records say the couple agreed to the scheme.
The complaint alleges that Macy was on a Dec. 12, 2018, call with Huffman and Singer. The discussion was about their youngest daughter taking the SAT over two days.
"Do we want two days?" Macy is quoted as asking. "She'll score higher. Just her base score will be higher if we did it over two days."
Legal experts said they think Macy wasn't charged because allegations of his involvement are less than Huffman's.
