Actress Felicity Huffman told a judge on Friday that she arranged to cheat on her daughter’s SAT exam out of a misguided belief that she was giving her a “fair shot” at college acceptance.
Her daughter has a learning disability and THAT is why she was using the scheme to petition for extra time, along with having the testing site transferred to a test prep center that was controlled by the mastermind behind this, Rick Singer.
In a letter to the judge, Felicity explained this, saying her actions were motivated by her insecurity as a mother and her concern that her daughter’s learning disability would prevent her from attending college to study acting.
Huffman said Singer told her that her daughter’s scores would be too low to get into college, and suggested that she allow him to have a proctor correct the girl’s answers. She said she was initially shocked that such an arrangement existed, and thought about it for six weeks.
She wrote, “As warped as this sounds now, I honestly began to feel that maybe I would be a bad mother if I didn’t do what Mr. Singer was suggesting.”
(She pleaded guilty in April to paying $15,000 to Singer.)
Federal prosecutors had initially sought a term of at least four months in prison. But in a submission to the court on Friday, they lowered that request to one month behind bars.
Her defense lawyers are asking that she be sentenced to probation and community service.
Felicity is due to be sentenced Friday in Boston.
Source: Variety, US Weekly.
Photo Credit: Getty Images.