Actress Felicity Huffman was released from prison on Friday before her 14-day sentence was over.
A federal judge in Boston sentenced Huffman last month to 14 days in prison, a $30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service and a year’s probation after she pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy for paying an admissions consultant $15,000 to have a proctor correct her daughter’s SAT answers.
The Desperate Housewives actor served 11 days of her initial 14-day sentence.
READ MORE: Felicity Huffman starts serving prison time in college scam
Huffman was set to be released from the Federal Correctional Institution on Sunday, Oct. 27, according to NBC News.
According to a prison official, Huffman was released Friday as is normal policy for inmates who are set to be released on weekends.
Huffman was the first parent to be sentenced in the college admissions scandal after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
The 56-year-old actress tearfully apologized at her sentencing, saying, “I was frightened. I was stupid, and I was so wrong.”
“I am deeply sorry to the students, parents, colleges, and universities who have been impacted by my actions,” Huffman said. “I am sorry to my daughter Sophia, my daughter Georgia, and I am sorry to my husband Bill. I have betrayed them all.”
“I am in full acceptance of my guilt, and with deep regret and shame over what I have done, I accept full responsibility for my actions and will accept the consequences that stem from those actions,” she said in an emailed statement last month.
READ MORE: Felicity Huffman sentenced to 14 days in jail for her role in college bribery scandal
“I want to apologize to them and, especially, 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. 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.”
A total of 51 people have been charged in the case. Many of the parents are accused of paying William (Rick) Singer, an admissions consultant at the centre of the scheme, to bribe exam administrators to allow someone else to take tests for their children or to correct their answers, authorities say. Others are accused of paying Singer to bribe coaches in exchange for helping their children get into schools as fake athletic recruits.
Huffman paid $15,000 to boost her older daughter’s SAT scores. Singer, who has pleaded guilty, was accused of bribing a test proctor to correct the teenager’s answers.
The amount Huffman paid is relatively low compared with other alleged bribes in the scheme. Some parents were accused of paying up to $500,000.
Fellow actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, pleaded not guilty to paying $500,000 in bribes to get their daughters into the University of Southern California as crew recruits even though neither of them is a rower.
—With files from the Associated Press
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