Felicity Huffman was spotted buying flowers on Saturday as she awaits sentencing for the college admission bribery scandal.
Huffman smiled at an outdoor flower shop in West Hollywood this weekend, in photos published by TMZ. The actress was spotted taking a moment of simple joy just as her daughter, Sofia Grace, graduates from high school.
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Huffman has confessed to paying a massive bribe to get Sofia admitted to college, but perhaps she still intends to congratulate he daughter for finishing out high school. There was no indication that the flowers were for Sofia, but she took her time picking out the perfect bouquet, whatever it was for.
Huffman was one of dozens of wealthy and influential parents charged with paying massive bribes to get their children into colleges. They worked through admissions adviser Rick Singer, who arranged payments to university coaches for admission as athletes, or else paid off standardized test proctors to falsify scores.
Huffman confessed to the latter, paying $15,000 to Singer in exchange for a high SAT score for Sofia. Her daughter reportedly got extra time to take the test, and in the end a proctor quietly corrected her answers.
The charges were publicized on March 12, and federal prosecutors moved to arrest those involved all at once. Huffman was taken into custody, while her husband, actor William H. Macy, was not. All in all, 33 parents were arrested along with 17 others including college and test-taking officials.
While other parents have tried to fight the charges, Huffman was one of the first to reach a plea deal and enter a guilty plea. She appeared in court on May 13, admitting to honest service fraud. The actress claimed that her daughter knew nothing about the bribe, and that she had worked with Singer in secret.
“I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community,” Huffman wrote in her first public statement after the scandal broke. “I want to apologize to them and, especially, I want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to get into college, and to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices to support their children and do so honestly.”
Meanwhile, federal prosecutors now say that Macy was aware of the bribe and agreed to it, in spite of earlier claims to the contrary. It is still not clear why the actor was not indicted with his wife.
In exchange for her cooperation, Huffman is expected to get a recommended sentence of 4 to 10 months in prison. She will be sentenced on Sept. 13, 2019.
