Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines for October 22
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Felicity Huffman is close to completing her sentence for her role in the nationwide college admissions scandal.
The actress, who served 11 days in prison in 2019 for her role in the national scandal that exposed the rich and famous engaging in illegal schemes to buy their kids into some of the nation's top schools, requested the return of her passport in a court document filed on Wednesday.
Huffman's legal team said she's nearly met all of the terms of her supervised release and will soon complete the requirements that were first imposed on her back in September 2019.
“At the time of her initial appearance Ms. Huffman surrendered her passport without objection to the United States Probation and Pretrial Services Office,” her request to the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts obtained by Fox News reads.
It continues: “Ms. Huffman will shortly complete the period of supervised release the Court imposed on September 13, 2019. She has alredy completed all other aspects of the sentence the Court imposed that day."
Actress Felicity Huffman, escorted by her husband William H. Macy, makes her way to the entrance of the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse September 13, 2019 in Boston. The actress has almost completed the requirements of her supervised release. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP/Getty Images)
Huffman’s legal team argues that her passport is still in possession of the United States Probation and Pretrial Services Office and the government's counsel agrees to her request for its return.
It's been nearly one year since Huffman was released from prison after she served 11 days of her 14-day sentence. At the time, Fox News confirmed that Huffman was released from the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, Calif., per Program Statement 5140.36, which stipulates that inmates who are scheduled to be released on a weekend or legal holiday instead be released on the last preceding weekday.
Huffman reported to the prison on Oct. 15. At the time of her surrender, a rep for the actress told us: "Ms. Huffman is prepared to serve the term of imprisonment Judge Talwani ordered as one part of the punishment she imposed for Ms. Huffman’s actions."
The "Desperate Housewives" star pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud in May 2019. She confessed to paying an admissions consultant $15,000 to have a proctor correct her older daughter's answers on the SAT. She considered the same for her younger daughter but decided against it.
In addition to serving in prison, Huffman also received one year of probation, was ordered to perform 250 hours of community service and pay a $30,000 fine.
"I think this is the right sentence here," U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani told Huffman at the time of her sentencing. "You can move forward and rebuild your life after this. Without this sentence, I think the community around you would ask why you got away with this."
This past August, "Full House" alum Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were sentenced to two months and five months in prison respectively for their roles in the same bribery scandal.
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Lori Loughlin exits the John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse after appearing in Federal Court to answer charges stemming from college admissions scandal on April 3, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. She has until Nov. 19 to turn herself into a federal prison facility for a two-month sentence. (Paul Marotta/Getty Images)
Loughlin and Giannulli, 57, were accused of paying $500,000 to William “Rick” Singer – the founder of The Edge College & Career Network, which reportedly funneled monetary bribes from parents to colleges.
The scam successfully got Loughlin and Giannulli’s two daughters, Isabella Rose Giannulli, 21, and Olivia Jade Giannulli, 20, accepted into University of Southern California under false crew team credentials. Neither girls had played the sport competitively.
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When released, Loughlin will be supervised for two years and will have to serve 100 hours of community service. She was also ordered to pay a fine of $150,000.
Giannulli faced a steeper sentence of five months in prison, two years of supervision upon release and 250 hours of community service for his part in the bribery scandal. He will have to pay a fine of $250,000.
Loughlin and Giannulli each have until Nov. 19 to turn themselves into federal prison facilities.
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