'Desperate Housewives' Star Pleads Guilty in College Admissions Bribery Scheme
Here are the latest on court proceedings in the college bribery scandal (all times local):
3:35 p.m.
Actress Felicity Huffman is apologizing for taking part in the college admissions bribery scheme.
The “Desperate Housewives” star said in a prepared statement Monday she accepts full responsibility for her actions and “will accept the consequences that stem from those actions.” It was her first public comments since her arrest last month.
Huffman was accused of paying $15,000 to rig her daughter’s entrance exam score. Authorities say she has agreed to plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.
Huffman says her daughter didn’t know about her actions. She says her desire to help her daughter is “no excuse to break the law or engage in honesty.”
Authorities said Monday 12 other parents and one coach have also agreed to plead guilty in the scam.
3:25 p.m.
The former men’s tennis coach at the University of Texas at Austin has agreed to plead guilty in the sweeping college admissions bribery scandal.
Federal authorities said Monday that Michael Center will plead guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.
Center was accused of accepting nearly $100,000 to help a non-tennis playing applicant get admitted as a recruit. Once enrolled, the student never played.
He was among several coaches at elite universities charged in the scam, which also ensnared prominent parents and Hollywood actresses.
Prosecutors said in court documents made public Monday that “Desperate Housewives” star Felicity Huffman and 12 other parents have also agreed to plead guilty.
Huffman was accused of paying $15,000 to rig her daughter’s college entrance exam.
3 p.m.
Actress Felicity Huffman has agreed to plead guilty in the college admissions cheating scandal.
Court documents made public Monday show Huffman and 12 other prominent parents will plead guilty in the scheme.
Huffman was accused of paying $15,000 to have a proctor boost her older daughter’s SAT score.
Huffman was among 50 people charged in what authorities have described as the biggest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department.
Officials say parents paid an admissions consultant to rig their children’s test scores and bribe coaches at elite universities to designate their kids as athletic recruits.
Fellow actress Lori Loughlin (LAWK’-lin) and Loughlin’s fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, are also charged in the scam. They are not among those who’ve agreed to plead guilty and haven’t publicly addressed the allegations.
11:30 a.m.
Stanford University has expelled a student who lied about her sailing credentials in her application, which was linked to the college-admission bribery scandal.
The university quietly announced it had rescinded the student’s admission in a short statement posted on its website April 2 after determining “some of the material in the student’s application is false.”
The statement added: “The student is no longer on campus.”
University officials previously said the student was admitted without the recommendation of former Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer, who pleaded guilty to taking bribes in exchange for helping students get into the elite university.
They said a $500,000 contribution to the sailing program was made several months after the student was admitted.
The Stanford Daily first reported on Sunday that the student had been expelled.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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