Felicity Huffman appeared in a federal courtroom in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon to face a charge of paying a bribe to boost her daughter’s SAT score.
Judge Alexander F. MacKinnon set her bond for $250,000. Though he was not indicted, Huffman’s husband William H. Macy sat in the front row in court.
“Full House” actress Lori Loughlin was not in court, but her husband Mossimo Giannulli’s bond was set at $1 million, secured against his home, since his charges were significantly more serious. When she has been arraigned, she will be allowed to return to Vancouver to work.
Huffman and Giannulli both later posted bond and left the courthouse.
The next court date is set for March 29 in Boston for both Huffman and Mossimo, who surrendered their passports to the court.
Wearing a dark sweater and glasses, Huffman answered “yes” when asked if she understood the charges. Her attorney Evan Jenness had asked that she be released on her own recognizance, but the request was refused. Her real estate assets are valued at more than $20 million, in addition to $4 million in liquid securities, the prosecution specified.
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Huffman is one of 46 people charged in the largest university admissions scheme in U.S. history. Also charged are numerous CEOs, investors, and other elite professionals.
Huffman was arrested at her Los Angeles home on Tuesday morning. Although Macy was not charged in the case, the affidavit states that “Huffman and her spouse agreed to the plan.”
Loughlin was not at home on Tuesday morning, and has not yet been arrested. Authorities are working to negotiate her surrender. She and Huffman each face a single count of mail fraud in connection with the scheme.
Loughlin and her husband are accused of paying $500,000 to get their two daughters into USC.
In all, federal prosecutors filed charges against 33 parents, some of whom allegedly paid millions of dollars to get their kids into elite universities. The scheme allegedly centered around William “Rick” Singer, a Newport Beach, Calif., admissions consultant. Singer allegedly developed a network of college coaches to help his clients get into selective universities.
Singer has agreed to plead guilty in the case.
Criminal defense attorneys say the admissions scandal has few precedents. There simply haven’t been many cases like this before.
“We’re in uncharted territory here,” said Peter Elikann, a criminal defense lawyer and the author of “Superpredators: The Demonization of Our Children by the Law.” “There’s going to be some really creative lawyering and some real creative prosecuting.”
It’s unclear if the case will be heard by a jury or if a judge alone will preside. But the court of public opinion isn’t likely to be too sympathetic. College admissions touches so many people and there is a great deal of resentment about the advantages that well-to-do people have when it comes to getting their kids into the schools of their choice.
“The public could be in a hanging mood,” Elikann said. “This is about as unpopular a crime as you can get. The bottom line is people will be angry about all the good, hard-working students who did everything right and played by rules and are not in these schools because an unqualified person stole their spot.”
Some of the people indicted may strike plea bargains, where they pay fines and offer to do community service instead of letting the legal process play out. A lot will depend on how much evidence prosecutors have amassed. For Huffman and Loughlin, television actors with long careers in the public eye, being a star could be a disadvantage.
“In a high-profile case like this, it can be hard to convince prosecutors to treat clients like anyone else,” said Dmitry Gorin, a partner at Eisner Gorin LLP. “Just because someone is a celebrity, doesn’t mean they should get punished more.”