Actress Felicity Huffman was seen walking the grounds of the low-security federal prison in Dublin, where she is serving a 13-day sentence for her role in the college admissions scandal.
Huffman's husband, actor William H. Macy, and their daughter Sofia visited her at the Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin, which Forbes magazine labeled one of the cushiest in the nation. Inmates are allowed to walk around beyond the barbed wire fence.
Huffman was seen wearing a green jumpsuit and a white baseball cap as she walked out to a parking lot to meet her eldest daughter, Sophia Grace, and Macy, with no guards escorting her.
The former "Desperate Housewives" star now has a less glamorous identity: Inmate 77806–112.
Many people feel Huffman should have to serve more than 13 days in a low security prison.
"I do think it’s a rather short sentence," Oakland resident Jonathan Owens said.
Chris Bunow of Turlock added: "I think it’s a very light sentence, and it doesn’t set a good example for society."
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Former inmate Jennifer Myers served 14 months in federal prison on drug charges and advises people sentenced to serve time.
"She’s going to be in a state of shock," Myers said about Huffman. "It’s not really going to leave until she gets out of prison. It’s going to take her time to get over this experience."
Huffman’s 13-day sentence came after she shelled out $15,000 to have her daughter's SAT answers corrected, part of a sprawling scandal nicknamed "Varsity Blues" that’s led to indictments for more than 30 parents.
At the center of the scandal is the alleged fixer, Rick Singer.
So far, 10 of the parents have been sentenced, nine of them to jail time. And according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, another three are now changing their pleas from not guilty to guilty and are expected in court Monday.
Former "Full House" actress Lori Loughlin, however, did not have a change of heart. She pleaded not guilty to paying half a million dollars to Singer to get her daughter into college and is expected back in court in mid-January.
Huffman, who also paid a $30,000 fine, is due to be released next Sunday.
