Huffman, 12 other parents to plead guilty in college scheme

BOSTON (AP) — Actress Felicity Huffman has agreed to plead guilty in the sweeping college admissions cheating scam that has ensnared wealthy parents and athletic coaches at some of the nation’s most selective universities, federal authorities said Monday.

The “Desperate Housewives” star and 12 other prominent parents will admit to charges in the scheme, which authorities say involved rigging standardized test scores and bribing coaches at such prestigious schools as Yale and Georgetown.

Huffman was accused of paying a consultant, Rick Singer, $15,000 disguised as a charitable donation to boost her daughter’s SAT score. Authorities say the 56-year-old actress also discussed going through with the same plan for her younger daughter, but she ultimately decided not to.

Other parents charged in the scheme include prominent figures in law, finance, fashion, the food and beverage industry and other fields. It’s the biggest college admissions scandal ever prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department, embroiling elite universities across the country and laying bare the lengths to which status-seeking parents will go to secure their children a coveted spot.

Singer met with Huffman and her husband, 69-year-old actor William H. Macy, at their Los Angeles home and explained to them he “controlled” a testing center and could have somebody secretly change their daughter’s answers, authorities say. Singer told investigators Huffman and her husband agreed to the plan.

Macy was not charged; authorities have not said why.

Huffman will plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, according to court documents.

Michael Center, the former men’s tennis coach at the University of Texas at Austin, has also agreed to plead guilty in the scheme, prosecutors said Monday. Center was accused of accepting nearly $100,000 to help a non-tennis playing applicant get admitted as a recruit.

California real estate developer Bruce Isackson and his wife, Davina Isackson, who are pleading guilty to participating in both the athletic recruitment and exam rigging schemes, are cooperating with prosecutors for a chance at a lighter sentence.

“We have worked cooperatively with the prosecutors and will continue to do so as we take full responsibility for our bad judgment,” they said in a statement.

Fellow actress Lori Loughlin, who played Aunt Becky on the sitcom “Full House,” and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli are charged with paying $500,000 in bribes to get their two daughters admitted to the University of Southern California as crew recruits, even though neither participated in the sport.