Is jail time proper for the parents who paid bribes to get their kids admitted to college?

What is happening to the colleges that took bribes? I would think that’s actually worse.

Yes.
Jail for the parents.
Deportation to Syria for their kids.
Justice.

It is my understanding that at least some of the athletic directors who took bribes have been fired.

And yes, If someone can get choked to death for selling single cigarettes, I don’t think a little jail time for a rich cheater is inappropriate.

I am generally opposed to prison for non violent offenses, unless there is failure to comply with a more lenient sentence. But a lengthy house arrest with very restrictive terms is certainly due.

For every kid whose parents bribed their way in, there was a more deserving kid who didn’t make the cut. The crime is denying that other kid opportunities. That’s pretty sick. Jail seems fair.

Nope, no jail. They’re far too full already and hitting them in the pocketbook with big fines and yes, community service, is far more appropriate imo.

It’s proper and fitting. But a nice little fine on top of it couldn’t hurt.

Universities no longer serve the function of education. They are gatekeepers to the middle class. The whole purpose of a university is to create a barrier to social mobility so that only those who already have wealth can purchase the piece of paper necessary for buying entry into the petit bourgeoisie.

The “crime” these people committed is making this process visible. They’re supposed to play by the rules so the slack-jawed imbeciles don’t twig to the fact that the game is rigged. It’s like judges and politicians who accept illegal bribes, or police caught brutalizing suspects; it’s not what they’ve done which earns them punishment, but doing so in ways outside the acceptable methods which hide it outside casual scrutiny.

Ttump has made the same mistake. He’s no different than any other politician: corrupt, selfish, greedy, sadistic, small-minded, oppressive, and authoritarian. But he’s supposed to keep these traits hidden behind a mask of self-righteous patriotic hypocrisy and not paraded openly for the stupids to see.

I think our punitive system is not logical or creative enough. Jail time results in a lot of bitterness and shame. It costs society money, and has been proven to only work as a short-term deterrent.

These people do not need to be locked up for others’ safety, so they shouldn’t be. Maybe they could have a spending limit for a while – you could make the argument that they are using their money for evil, and shouldn’t be allowed to do so.

In general: If these parents have so much money to give away, why not use that for good? Pick a few disadvantaged kids and help those along. Better still, change the system so that money doesn’t play a role in who gets a higher education. Use the scandal for positive change.

I think community service, fines, and court fees. The most important part is the community service. It has to take their freedom of time away and serve others. Hopefully, children who need help in school. The fine should go towards scholarships.

@ARE_you_kidding_me I asked the same on another Q, what’s happening to the people who accepted the bribes, they more than likely knew exactly what they were doing and how ilegal and against the rules it was.

What about Huffman’s kid? As the beneficiary of what the bribes / payments brought, should the kid have any punishment?

The kids should be kicked out of the school at the very least.

I’m not sure what the charges are against Huffman and the others so if they’re found guilty, there might be mandatory sentencing.

Like @gorillapaws said, others were denied entry to allow these kids of lying parents into the school. Some other kid worked his or her butt off in high school to be denied so a liar and cheater can get his spot.

The problem with house arrest, in my opinion, is that if you live in a mansion on the Pacific or a luxury high rise in Manhattan, or something equally glamorous, being stuck at home, other than doctor visits and work is not that much of a punishment. Just being allowed out for doctor and work makes it not that bad of a punishment. I think they need to be punished more harshly than house arrest or community service.

Does anyone think that if Huffman serves jail time, it won’t be in a vety cushy white collar crime cell?

@elbanditoroso I don’t think the kid was allowed to stay in the school.

This is not a “victimless” crime. Felicity has stated that her kids have a learning disability and she wanted to give them a leg up in getting into college by buying SAT scores for them. That takes away a place for a less rich family to get into the college of their dreams. If your child has a learning disability and can’t get into a top college, send them to a community college to at least get them acclimated to the college life. Felicity’s daughter supposedly had no idea that this was going on, so she doesn’t need to be punished.

@janbb “Does anyone think that if Huffman serves jail time, it won’t be in a vety cushy white collar crime cell?”

I’m fine with that. All cells should be humane. The punishment of incarceration is that you don’t have the freedom to leave and you lose days/months/years of your life. That’s perfectly severe enough already. We don’t need to make prisons into post-apocalyptic, rape-gang hellscapes.

@jannb I would guess she would be sent to the same women’s prison in WV that Martha Stewart served time. I’m on my phone and can’t link, but it pretty much looks like a college dormitory. It’s called Alderson Prison.

I don’t think the kids should be punished but they shouldn’t be allowed to remain at the universities if they did not get there with honest applications and information.

As this link explains, there are five possible goals for sentencing a criminal:
Criminal sentencing was designed to achieve five general goals: societal retribution, prevention of further criminal acts through incapacitation, deterrence of further crimes, rehabilitation of the offender and victim restoration, which is also called reparation.

I don’t accept the eye for an eye idea behind retribution. The question then becomes one of whether any of the other goals is achieved, and the only relevant one would be deterrence. Does putting these people in prison provide deterrence beyond what would be accomplished by just giving a fine? I think that for the class of people involved, even a short sentence would have a strong deterrent effect.

I agree house arrest is insufficient, but jail doesn’t help others, and I think if they have to show up in schools in poor neighborhoods and help children it would be more stressful for them and more meaningful. The problem I guess will be the worry about them getting hurt if the schools has a violence issue. Most schools are safe.

If her daughter was aware of the lies and bribes and she was 18 when she signed the application then I would think she was part of the crime. No matter what age, if she knew she was cheating then she should be kicked out of school.

I didn’t know SAT scores were bought. That to me is reprehensible. That bothers me more than the fake rowing team, but both are bad.

Thing is we all knew this was happening at elite universities. They just got caught, it will keep happening. Those colleges are so far out of reach for the average student that for the vast majority they are not even a consideration. They are for the children of the elite and sometimes for those who have superior talent that they feel like letting in to fill the pipeline of the future elite.

Regular state colleges are the gateway to the middle class, or simply a gateway to a living wage provided you’re not saddled with debt once you leave. We are a skills based economy so education is crucial. It’s not hard to get in state schools so bribing is not very common outside of athletics but those bribes go the other direction anyway. Part of me does not care that some movie star bribed their kid into an ivy league school. These schools are not for the proletariat anyway.

Cut and pasted from today’s NY Times:

Prosecutors have argued that the parents involved must serve at least some time in prison, to show that wealthy people will not get away with corrupting the admissions system. At one point the prosecutors had indicated they would ask that Ms. Huffman face four months behind bars, but they lowered their request last week. In the cases of some other parents who have pleaded guilty in the case, they are seeking as much as 15 months of incarceration. They asked for a comparatively lighter sentence for Ms. Huffman in part, they said, because she paid less than many of the other parents and because she chose not to include her younger daughter in the scheme.

In seeking at least a brief period of incarceration, prosecutors have pointed to examples of educational fraud that have been punished with prison terms — in some cases, long ones. In court papers, they cited a case in which Atlanta public schoolteachers, principals and administrators were convicted in a conspiracy to cheat on state tests, and some were sentenced to as much as three years in prison; all of the defendants were black. In another case, an African-American mother in Ohio was sentenced to five years in prison — a sentence later suspended to 10 days in jail, three years of probation and community service — for using her father’s address to get her children into a nearby suburban school district.

In light of examples like these, the prosecutors suggested, sentencing parents in this case to probation would invite accusations of unfairness and racial bias.

The cases “most analogous to this one — involving organized schemes and multiple co-conspirators — have typically resulted in the imposition of meaningful terms of incarceration,” they wrote. “Frequently, those cases involved defendants who are members of racial and ethnic minorities and/or from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. A different result in this case, particularly given the history and characteristics of these defendants, would not be appropriate.”

In calling for probation for Ms. Huffman, her lawyers cited examples of testing fraud in which defendants got no jail time, including a case in which 15 Chinese nationals were charged with cheating on college entrance exams in a scheme involving fake passports and paid test takers. In that 2015 case, most of the defendants received probation, and although the records of two defendants are sealed, Ms. Huffman’s lawyers say there is no record of any of the defendants being sent to prison.

Prosecutors have charged 51 people in the admissions case, including coaches and employees of Mr. Singer, and 15 of the 34 parents charged have pleaded guilty. Most of those parents are scheduled to be sentenced in the coming weeks, most by the same judge, Indira Talwani.

More cut and pasted from today’s NY Times. This talks about Ms. Huffman’s crime:

A federal judge will decide Ms. Huffman’s penalty for her role in what prosecutors describe as a broad conspiracy to cheat on exams and bribe coaches to designate students as recruits in sports they often did not play. Ms. Huffman, who pleaded guilty in May to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, is the first of the nearly three dozen wealthy parents charged in the scheme to be sentenced, and her sentence is being closely watched as an early sign of whether the penalties will be significant.

Prosecutors have asked that Ms. Huffman be sentenced to one month of incarceration, while her lawyers say she should get no jail time but a year of probation. The two sides have sparred about how to best compare Ms. Huffman’s offense — a felony which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years — with past examples of educational fraud. And questions have been raised about whether Ms. Huffman and the other parents will receive lighter punishments than poor and nonwhite defendants convicted of similar crimes.

In the letter she submitted ahead of her sentencing, Ms. Huffman described being motivated by a mix of maternal devotion and fear. She wrote that her insecurity as a parent, which she said was amplified by having a daughter with learning disabilities, made her trust the college counselor she had hired and rely on his advice against her better judgment. The counselor, William Singer, whom prosecutors have described as the mastermind of the admissions scheme, has pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges; he has not yet been sentenced.

After he had counseled Ms. Huffman’s daughter for nearly a year, Mr. Singer told Ms. Huffman that, unless her daughter’s SAT math score rose sharply, the performing arts schools she was aiming for would not even consider her, Ms. Huffman told the judge.

No to jail
But in my opinion they should be made to pay full tuition, room and board for some kid who can’t afford college. Maybe even fund an endowment.

@jca2 Sounds to me like either she should be sent to jail or the state needs to make up for the severe punishment doled out to the African Americans mentioned in the article who were incarcerated.

Making an example of the actors in some way has to be done. It’s a public service, a warning that people need to know the law.

I can’t believe Huffman argued she had to cheat on the SAT scores or the school wouldn’t consider her daughter. Too bad! Unbelievable.

@gorillapaws. I agree with you re: prisons but the poor should have the same “good” ones as the rich not for profit hell holes.

@JLeslie: And for those African Americans who spent three years in jail for similar crimes, what would be a good amount of money to make up for their losing their job, not being with their families, maybe missing important family events like weddings, graduations, funerals, parties, the shame and humiliation of jail and all that it entails (cavity searches, etc.), the harsh treatment from the guards, the crappy jail food, maybe being abused by other inmates? What is a good amount of money to compensate for that? Millions, definitely. So for Huffman to stay out of jail and the state to pay millions to the African Americans who went to jail for similar crimes kind of makes no sense.

I have an idea. Why not send Huffman and the other bribers down to El Paso and some of the other ICE refugee prison camps, and have them serve their “public service time” working with the asylum seekers.

Win win win. The bribers do their non-jail community service sentence helping people who actually need it, The asylum seekers might get more humane treatment for a month or too.

@jca2 We can’t change that the other people already spent time in jail. If they are currently in jail we can set them free with time served. Money is the only thing the state can do, it is not enough, but what else can the state do?

If Huffman goes to jail I’m not completely against it, but I just think public service of some sort will be more productive, and the more I think about it her daughter should have to leave that school.

@JLeslie: I know that money is the only thing the state can do at this point, since the people probably already served their sentences. The part I’m saying makes no sense is that the state would have to find millions from some already overloaded state budget to pay off the African Americans, (which, depending on the number of people needing to be paid off, might amount to tens of millions), when a better solution would just be to make Huffman and others in the College Admissions scandal serve an equivalent sentence.

We throw way too many people in jail. It’s a non-violent offense. Fine them into Oblivion, take the money and put it into scholarship programs.

I don’t want to just summarize the posts above, but I agree with a lot of the different points that have been made here. On one hand I do see the point that only violent offenders should be locked up, but we know this is not how the prison system works and I don’t know that this case is the time to change it. We sometimes lock people up to set an example. Did Martha Stewart really need to be locked up? I’m sure that bribing admissions officers and coaches and other university staff by wealthy parents is nothing new and it is just being brought to light now, but maybe that’s good. Maybe it will set an example and act as a warning against attempting this again. If jailtime were the punishment, perhaps there wouldn’t be such a strong perception that rich people “get off easy” when they commit crimes. Rich people aren’t above jailtime. That said, I do think fining them should be a significant part of the punishment, with or without jailtime. Some good could at least be done with the money.

As someone who was accepted into an “elite school” the honest way (well, as honest as possible; I can’t rule out entirely that legacy status affected my acceptance), this story gets to me. Rich people don’t “deserve” to have their mediocre children attend elite schools. It’s that sense of entitlement again. The punishment for this should be harsh enough to indicate that there is no entitlement, no special status for rich people.

Unfortunately I don’t think this practice will ever be eradicated; as long as there are people with enough money and people willing to accept that money, there will be bribes. But we could at least cut down on it and make the punishment for being caught severe. And that includes punishing the people who accepted the money!

Another point that occurs to me is that there could be many more victims than just the one kid who got bumped. You have all of the kids in the classrooms that that kid would have been in who might have benefited from having a smarter classmate in the room with them. Additionally, it occurred to me that the kid who got bumped undeservedly probably didn’t simply not go to school: they most likely went to a lower tier school, therby bumping some other kid out of THAT school into an even lower school, and so-on. This action would have had a “dumbing down” ripple effect that touched many people’s lives in potentially serious ways.

IMO robbing kids of their chance to maximize their potential futures is much worse than robbing a bank.

^^agree, that thought crossed my mind as well.

Part of what makes elite schools elite is the networking. There is a saying that the hardest part about Harvard is getting in.

It’s unfortunate that even in a country like America, that is supposed to be a meritocracy, that still who you know plays a lot into success in life.

Other schools might have very good programs, but having a BA from that school on her resume I guess was seen as very important. It makes me question how we think about colleges and universities.

@gorillapaws All of that, plus, if lots of kids cheat their way in it might mean the standards for admitting children should be changed. Was Huffman’s daughter doing well in the college? It’s like having a teacher who grades on a curve, if students are getting 60% at best, and those kids get an A, there is something wrong there.

From what I have read, her daughter just graduated from high school in May and has not attended college.

@chyna Thanks.

That’s the younger daughter, @chyna.

@JCA No, not from what I read. Per USA Today “ Felicia and William Macy’s eldest daughter graduated from high school. Sophia Grace Macy, 18, graduated from LA high school of the Arts Monday afternoon. But the occasion is bittersweet. The commencement comes as Huffman is entangled in the Nations largest college admissions scandal, where she is accused of paying $15,000 to have Sophia Grace’s SAT answered correctly.” Article dated 6/11/19. I can’t link as I’m on my phone.

Oh I thought you were referring to the younger one who is not yet college age, @chyna.

“Is jail time proper for the parents who paid bribes to get their kids admitted to college?”

I think yes and also no.

Yes they should have some jail time ( minimal to restrict and to show that they cannot escape the law..to respect not only there kids but also the community and the system that is in place)

No for jail time unless a month or two as consequences ( suicide from humiliation may be a unwitting result far extreme than the crime)

I feel that those parents should be in a rehab counselling program to enlighten them of there real reasons for committing this crime in the first place.

That of NOT having faith in there own kids. That they could not accept that their kids were not able to get in on there own ? These kids could had gotten in on there own merits eventually even if it took a few cracks at it. These parents have robbed there kids of dignity in accomplishing there goals in there own way and with there own efforts without parental interference.

I wonder now “if” the parents had pushed there kids into a course that they really didn’t want?
Again the parent had no faith in that child moving ahead as THEY saw fit for themselves.

Parental pressure was exerted on these kids due to there parents own measure of success.
In the end I think that the kids diplomas, certificates,etc should be returned and nullified and “if” the kids wish to continue on that career path then they do so on there OWN merit
.
That way the kid feels that they are in charge of there life goals and not the other way around.
Simply put these parents had NO faith in there kids choices let alone accomplishing them on there own, which had the effect far more deep than anyone would understand.
These kids not only feel embarrassed but pitied by there helicopter parents.

@Inspired_2write ”...That of NOT having faith in there own kids…”

That’s a very interesting insight. I hadn’t even considered this aspect of the crime.

Let’s be honest though, for some of those schools good grades are not enough. The best grades may not be enough. Bribery is what it takes. This is just a glimpse into a larger problem.

@gorillapaws
And for that in itself the parents should be ashamed.
Parents need to go to counselling ( professional) to understand the damage that they inflicted on there kids.
Do you ever think that those kids will trust again?

@ARE_you_kidding_me Don’t be so cynical. My son got into one of the top Ivies from Podunk, NJ with just brains and personal qualities. We didn’t pay for any tutoring or Test prep and he aced the SATs. Yes, the dice are loaded for the well educated parents and that is unfair but it doesn’t mean bribery is acceptable or necessary.

Obama is a good example. Single parent, not rich, studied hard, went to Harvard.

Michelle Obama is another example. Middle class went to Princeton, then Harvard.

Sentence is in: as of Friday afternoon, 14 days in prison, and as part of her sentence, Huffman will also have to pay a $30,000 fine, have supervised release for one year and do 250 hours of community service.

If I were her, I’d be very relieved.

@jca2
Gooda little of both. But professional counselling should be sought.

@janbb I hate to be but I am and continue to be. If someone tells me they went to Harvard or Yale or Princeton the very first thing that comes to my mind is “mommy and daddy had money” or “diversity inclusion” then “athletic scholarship” and the very last being academic merit.

Unless it has changed, there is a “quota” set aside for legacy, and I’m sure diversity plays into it also. If you know Nas Daily, he applied from Israel, he is a Palestinian Israeli, and got a free ride if I remember correctly, to Harvard. I’m sure Harvard liked his minority status in Israel, but also I’m sure he had the grades and probably a great essay and interview. Some kids do get in on working hard, good SATs, and good old fashioned acceptance to the university. Maybe he was helped by an outside of the country quota, or just a minority quota, it wouldn’t surprise me.

One of the reporters who works for the company I work for was accepted into the journalism graduate program at Columbia. It’s very prestigious to get a Masters in Journalism from there. She is Palestinian from the Palestinian territory. She has already graduated now. I think she is still in America, I’m not sure.

Is that bad? To hold space like that? I don’t have an answer.

I’m not sure if I would have made it into Michigan State University if I hadn’t been an out of state student. My guess is that it helped me in.

The article stated that she was sentenced to jail. Not prison. There is a huge difference between the two. Jail is, on average, far worse, than prison.

I personally support jail sentences, for these offenders. And there should be ramifications, for the children who benefited too, weather they were aware of it, or not. Not jail, for the children. But some sort of removal of any educational achievements, garnered by the actions of the parents…

^^Jail is worse than prison? Isn’t jail just time in a local jail cell, while prison has higher security and is a larger facility not necessarily near your family?

I would have her work a minimum wage job for two weeks so she realize that it is not going to kill her. Maybe cleaning toilets or porta potties. Just long enough to respect the salt of the earth jobs that are necessary for everyone for someone to do it.

@mcgrimm888 in this case, from what I’ve read, the daughter did not get to attend the college at all. In other cases, the kids went and partied and made videos of only partying. Sad to send your kid to a $500,000 party at a prestigious college.

@Areyoukiddingme our middle child had an opportunity to go to Yale on a full ride. We were working poor at the time. He chose a local private university instead.

@JLeslie . Jail is worse, for the reasons you said. It’s smaller, there are less, guards, less security, and they aren’t anything close to prisons, with close supervision, TV/recreation, and the money/resources, of a private company.
Cells are smaller, and held to far less standards. Violence between cell mates/fellow inmates is far greater. Guards are less qualified, paid less, and are basically passive aggressive, and encourage violence amongst the population. The inmates, are moved around a lot, and many are awaiting further punishment, or trial. They are also going through the first stages of incarceration.

Prisons, are/can be further from an inmate’s home. But they are better organized, and other inmates have “settled” in. Their condition of living is no picnic, but they are allowed jobs, pursuit of education, recreational privileges, and have better guards, and order.

Jails, are typically for short terms, people waiting for bond court, or people who couldn’t afford to bond out, so they are awaiting trial. Some inmates, are wanted in multiple other states, for far worse crimes, than what got them in jail currently. An inmate, could be in a cell, with someone arrested for possession, who is wanted for violent crimes, in other states. The uncertainty of everyone around them, and what may happen, adds to a lot of people acting unpredictably. Some who should (and will) be transferred to maximum security prisons, will spend hours/days, before the system gets straight, where they are going, and how long it will take for all the transferring to begin. Some, are unidentified, as they had no ID when arrested, so you might end up with say, a 20 year old 1st offender, sharing an overcrowded cell with multiple violent offenders, or illegal immigrants, whom nobody knows. It takes time, to figure out, who these people are, and what to do with them.

Then, there’s the system itself. Example. If you are arrested, on a Friday, you won’t even get a bond hearing, until late Monday, or Tuesday. Even if you were just arrested for driving with a suspended license you didn’t know was suspended, or are innocent all together.

There are surely some jails, better than others, but jail is usually worse. A college kid, arrested for public intoxication, may be spending days, with rapists, murderers, or people who are (for lack of a better phrase,) WAY worse people than them. Prisons have tears, for different offenders. Jails, rarely separate the mole hills, from the mountains. Also. Many inmates, are still under the influence of drugs, or in the state of mind that got them arrested. They’re a mix of people who committed small, or no crimes, and the worst of our nation’s criminals. Either way, most are in a state of agitation, and uncertainty. Leading to violent outbursts, and who knows what else. If an inmate gets attacked, by another, it may take a long time, for guards to get to them. It doesn’t take long, for a harder man, to seriously injure, or kill someone who is “lower on the food chain.” Some violent instances, will never be reported.

Those who can’t bond out, for monetary reasons, may wait months, before going to trial, and being found innocent. Even if they are to be found guilty, they are hit with the realization, that they won’t be at work the next day. They will likely be fired, lose their house/apartment. Lose their power, water, car, or whatever they are supposed to be making payments on. That first stage of that realization, leads even mostly normal people, in a state of hopelessness, and dispare. Which usually manifests itself in sudden outbursts of misdirected, angry behavior.

Jail, is a sort of limbo. Between freedom for some, or long-term confinement, or life in prison for others. The tension, is higher there, than in a prison. It’s a puddle of gas, with matches everywhere.

I don’t want to go into too much detail. But when I was much younger, I spent a couple days in jail. It was a minor crime. And I was eventually released. I got some luck with a lawyer, and currently have no criminal record. I actually became a law enforcement officer, a few years later. Having been on both sides, I hated the job, and gave it up, after almost a decade. Now, I’ve started a new career. But I’ll NEVER forget, the time I spent there.
The cell I was in, had feces, blood, and urine (not mine) spread all over the walls, feces in the only source of water. And the only vent (high in the cell,) was was clogged with urine soaked bath tissue. So every time the A/C turned on, it blew piss, and fowl oder. I complained to the guard, and he he simply shrugged. Then he ignored me, and after he left, the other guard was similarly unconcerned, if not happy. Keep in mind, I hadn’t even been to bond court yet. So, I wasn’t even convicted of anything. I had NO idea, that an American citizen, would have to go through what I went through. When they released me, they just threw more men, in the same cell. At one point, I spent 17 hours straight, in that cell, with no water, no phone call, and a cell mate, who was less than cordial. People in adjoining cells, were fighting, and beating the shit out of each other. The guards watched, and laughed. They moved me into several cells (I don’t know why,) and each cell, was about the same. I had a very difficult time, and had to get violent myself on occasion. To defend myself. I am a very big/strong man. I was big then too. I can’t imagine how much worse it would have been, if I were an average person. I talked to my lawyer, about conditions there. I wanted to sue the state, but he said that it was common, and not something worth pursuing.

I know people who have spent years in prison. They all agree. Jail, is far worse…

I feel that most white collar crimes carry penalties insufficient to their magnitude. In the case of colleges, the absurdly abundant fully legal bribery opportunities available for admission to even the best of schools marks those caught up in bribery scandals as affluent novices. These idiots could easily achieve the goal of getting their kids admitted at a considerable reduction in bribery expenses through simply placing the matter in the hands of an attorney specializing in endowment laws.

I read up on the Ohio mom that people are comparing to Felicity Huffman because the Ohio mom, Tanya McDowell, who is African American, got several years in jail while FH got 14 days. It was also mentioned in the NY Times article I cut and pasted (above) and on urban radio last night when I was driving home from work. However, it’s comparing apples and oranges as the charges were different. Tonya McDowell sent her child to another school district and lied about her address. Her charges were larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny. Different crime than FH, different charges.

FH will probably never work in Hollywood again. Sad for William H. Macy who is going to be tainted with this, as well, even though he wasn’t charged with a crime. I liked him in Fargo and other movies he was in.

@MrGrimm888: I work for the County and employees make more than state workers. County correction officers make more than state prison correction officers (Sing Sing is in our county). Sing Sing has trailers on property for COs who come from upstate to live in, because their state salary won’t pay rent in our County apartments (easily 1500 a month for a one bedroom). Every year when lists are published in the paper of highest paid County workers, our correction officers are at the top of the lists, because with overtime, they end up making more than the County Executive. Some Correction Officers will make 150k a year with overtime. County Exec makes about 140k. Our County Jail is quite nice. Not saying I’d want to stay there LOL, just saying it’s not bad. It has AC and stuff like that.

About how Jared Kushner got into Harvard (I didn’t read it yet):

https://www.propublica.org/article/the-story-behind-jared-kushners-curious-acceptance-into-harvard?fbclid=IwAR2MGvk7eCFobPIm4YIyJpAi0sNfcYyz9sIN9DuYOIzOfQRNjJx17WV1Z3g

@stanleybmanly When I first heard about the story I was thinking endowment also. It took me a while to realize this case was a straight out bribe. Initially, I was thinking money is given to universities all of the time and I’m guessing that helps family members get into those schools.

@jca2 I’m not so sure she will never work again. Martha Stewart is still on TV and people still like her. Maybe this is different because the average American worries about their child going to college while the average American might not understand insider stock tips, or whatever Martha went to prison for.

I bet eventually FH will be on TV talking about her community service experience, maybe start a charity or foundation. Some sort of redemption.

Someone on FB was saying FH will be a few years out of the picture and then on Oprah talking about how she’s new and improved. Maybe a book deal. I think in Martha Stewart’s case, Martha was such a well known brand and had so many fans, she was like a household name. Felicity Huffman doesn’t have that advantage. There’s only one Martha (although there are plenty of other household lifestyle decorating people) but aging actresses are a dime a dozen.

I’m in a FB group where a few people are arguing with me about Tonya McDowell. They’re saying it’s “black and white.” I’m saying I never said FH’s sentence was sufficient. All I’m saying is that when you compare the two people, Tonya McDowell and FH, the crimes are not the same so the charges are not the same, so it’s apples to oranges. On the surface, the two people lied to get their children a better education, but the way they went about it is different.

@JLeslie
I bet that FH will have a movie deal on this whole scenario and make lots of money off of it too.

@jca2 Do you think the Ohio women should have received any jail time? I don’t. It was for K-12 right?

They should all be punished, in some way.

@JLeslie: No, I was talking about this mom in CT who lied about her address to send the kid to a school in a different district. The mom also had drug charges, and someone pointed out to me that it was a different court. FH was Federal court and the CT mom was local court. Read more: https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Tanya-McDowell-sentenced-to-5-years-in-prison-3437974.php

I was just watching on TV about FH’s sentencing and I think it’s worth noting that all along she has been fairly cooperative and it seems to me she felt “caught” and knew she did something wrong. Her reaction has been very different than Lori Laughlin.

I guess Lori is really taking a big risk trying to fight her case.

I don’t think the CT women should get jail time for using another address. The selling drugs thing is a different story, that she should probably go to jail.

People involved and court activity dates. I’m posting this here for my own reference, too, as it seems to be updated on a regular basis.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme