Felicity Huffman Begins Prison Term at 'Club Fed' in East Bay in College Admissions Scandal

Actress Felicity Huffman reported to a federal prison in the East Bay community of Dublin to serve a 14-day sentence for her role in the unfolding college admissions scandal that saw affluent parents use bribery and other illegal means to get their children into elite universities.

The 56-year-old “Desperate Housewives” star surrendered to authorities at the low-security Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, about 35 miles east of San Francisco, on Wednesday. The prison has been described by media as “Club Fed,” making its way onto a Forbes list in 2009 of “America’s 10 Cushiest Prisons.” It has housed well-known inmates in the past, including “Hollywood Madam” Heidi Fleiss.

Once inside the prison, Huffman will share a room and open toilet with three other inmates, according to a publicist with the TASC Group, which is representing the actress. Huffman will be subjected to five bed checks a day while having access to a gym, library and TV room, the publicist said.

Huffman pleaded guilty to paying $15,000 to arrange for her daughter’s SAT score to be falsified. She was also fined $30,000, must perform 250 hours of community service and spend a year on probation. She is the first parent sentenced in the scandal.

At her sentencing, Huffman told the judge, “I was frightened. I was stupid, and I was so wrong.”

Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli are among some 50 other parents who have been charged in the scandal. Unlike Huffman, they have not pleaded guilty.

Many of the parents are accused of paying William “Rick” Singer, an admissions consultant at the center 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.

U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling of the District of Massachusetts, the supervising prosecutor, said Loughlin should expect a tougher sentence than Huffman if she is convicted.

This post includes reporting by the Associated Press.