Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman to plead guilty in college admissions scandal
Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman will plead guilty to a college admissions cheating scam.
Huffman said she had "betrayed" her daughter after being accused of paying a consultant, Rick Singer, $15,000 (£11,000) disguised as a charitable donation to boost her daughter's test score.
Court papers released on Monday showed Huffman and 12 other prominent parents will plead guilty in the scheme to get their children into elite US universities.
In her first public comments since her arrest last month, Huffman said: "I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community."
Huffman apologised, saying that she accepts full responsibility for her actions and "will accept the consequences that stem from those actions".
She added: "My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her.
"This transgression toward her and the public I will carry for the rest of my life.
"My desire to help my daughter is no excuse to break the law or engage in dishonesty."
The 56-year-old was among 50 people charged in what authorities have described as the biggest college admissions scam prosecuted by the Justice Department.
Other parents charged in the scheme include prominent figures in law, finance, fashion, the food and beverage industry and other fields.
Singer met Huffman and her husband, 69-year-old actor William H Macy, at their Los Angeles home and explained to them he "controlled" a testing centre 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.
Huffman will plead guilty to a single charge of conspiracy and fraud, according to court documents.
The charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, but the plea agreement indicates prosecutors in Boston will seek a sentence of four to 10 months.
Officials say parents paid Singer to rig their children’s test scores and bribe coaches at elite universities to designate their children as athletic recruits.
Fellow actress Lori Loughlin and Loughlin’s fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli are also charged in the scam.
They are accused of paying $500,000 (£380,000) in bribes to get their two daughters admitted to the University of Southern California.
They are not among those who have agreed to plead guilty and have not publicly addressed the allegations.
Singer pleaded guilty to charges including racketeering conspiracy on March 12, the day the allegations against the parents and coaches were made public in the so-called Operations Varsity Blues investigation.