On a day that’s most likely much more solemn than he originally predicted, William H. Macy turned 69 on Wednesday, one day after his wife, Felicity Huffman, was arrested for her alleged involvement in a nationwide college admissions scam.
It’s unclear how the Shameless star is spending his birthday, although hours before, he was supporting Huffman, 56, at the federal detention center in Los Angeles where she was being held on Tuesday. He carried a briefcase and looked calm as he entered the building, according to Us Weekly. As the judge read off the charges against his wife, he reportedly sat with his head down around families of other defendants.
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The Desperate Housewives actress was charged after allegedly making “a purported charitable contribution of $15,000 … to participate in the college entrance cheating scheme on behalf of her eldest daughter,” according to indictment documents.
The report also claims that Huffman “later made arrangements to pursue the scheme for a second time” to help her youngest daughter through the admission process, but ultimately chose “not to do” so.
Although Macy was not named in the indictment handed down on Tuesday, he was referred to in the documents as “Huffman’s spouse” and allegedly participated in a consultation about the cheating scheme.
Federal agents secretly recorded telephone calls with Huffman and a cooperating witness, which allegedly show Huffman agreeing to pay the large sum of money in order to help her daughter get a higher SAT score, according to the indictment.
She was arrested early Tuesday morning and taken to a hearing later that day, where a judge ruled that she could be released on a $250,000 bond. She was also required to surrender her passport and is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing at a Boston court on March 29. She was later seen leaving the Downtown Los Angeles courthouse late Tuesday.
Macy and Huffman share daughters Sofia, 18, and Georgia, 16. The married couple tied the knot in September 1997 after meeting in the early 1980s at New York City’s Atlantic Theater Company.
In addition to Huffman’s arrest, Fuller House actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, designer Mossimo Giannulli, along with dozens of other wealthy parents, were charged in the college admissions scam. Loughlin, 54, was taken into custody on Wednesday morning.
Photo credit: Rich Fury / Stringer / Getty
