ACTRESS Felicity Huffman tearfully pleaded guilty Monday to paying to rig a college entrance exam for her daughter, part of a wide-ranging scandal in which wealthy parents used fraud to secure their children spots at prominent U.S. universities.

The onetime star of the television series “Desperate Housewives” pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to a conspiracy charge related to her payment of US$15,000 to have someone secretly correct her daughter’s answers on the SAT exam.

Huffman is among 50 people accused of taking part in a scheme that involved cheating or bribery. Wealthy parents paid a total of US$25 million to bribe coaches to help their children gain spots at universities like Yale, Georgetown and the University of Southern California (USC).

William “Rick” Singer, a California college admissions consultant, pleaded guilty in March to charges that he facilitated the cheating and helped bribe university sports coaches to present clients’ children as fake athletic recruits.

Prosecutors have charged 33 parents with participating in the scheme with Singer.

Prosecutors have agreed to recommend a four-month prison sentence for Huffman. She is scheduled to be sentenced in September. (SD-Agencies)