Felicity Huffman pleads guilty in college admissions scandal

Washington: Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman pleaded guilty to federal charges, admitting that she shelled out thousands of dollars to a fixer who helped boost her daughter's college admission hopes.

Huffman, 56, admitted to paying $15,000 to correct answers on her daughter's SAT exam, a standardised test widely used for college admissions in the US, leading to a remarkably improved score from the teen's Preliminary SAT performance, according to prosecutors.

The Oscar-nominated actress had agreed to plead guilty last month to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, court records showed.

Prosecutors on Monday recommended Huffman, who was arrested in March, receive four months behind bars and a $20,000 fine.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on 13 September.

Another person pleading guilty at a federal courtroom in Boston, Massachusetts, was Devin Sloane, a Los Angeles businessman who paid $250,000 for his son to be admitted as a phony water polo recruit at the University of Southern California (USC).

Five parents have plead guilty while nine others have made agreements with prosecutors to plead guilty at a later date.

Huffman paid the money to a fund run by William 'Rick' Singer, who helped well-heeled clients to either boost the test scores of their children or pass them off as elite athletes to be qualified for special or lower admissions standards.

Singer pleaded guilty in March to racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the US and obstruction of justice.

The probe, which was revealed earlier this year, was dubbed Operation Varsity Blues. As part of the scam, wealthy parents fraudulently secured places for their children at high-profile educational institutions such as Yale University, Georgetown University, and USC among others.