Felicity Huffman, Lori Loughlin among those charged in college admissions cheating scandal

UPDATE: A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts has confirmed to EW that Huffman was arrested on Tuesday; she appeared in federal court in L.A. later in the day. Per the Associated Press, the judge set her bail at $250,000. Loughlin was not in L.A. on Tuesday morning when arrests were made, but she was contacted by the FBI and has agreed to surrender.

EARLIER: On Tuesday, the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts unveiled indictments involving a nationwide college cheating scandal. Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin are among the dozens of people charged in the case, EW has confirmed.

According to unsealed court documents, the conspiracy allegedly involved admitting students to elite universities by pretending they were athletic recruits and also cheating on college entrance exams. The most serious charges involve indictments on conspiracy to commit racketeering. Huffman and Loughlin are both charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services fraud. Athletic coaches from Yale, Stanford, USC, Wake Forest, and Georgetown (among others) are also implicated, per the documents, as well as parents and exam administrators.

Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, are accused of agreeing to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in order to have their two daughters designated as recruits to USC’s crew team to ease their admission to the school — this despite the fact that neither of them participated in crew. Huffman, by contrast, is accused of donating $15,000 to a firm that promised to help her older daughter (of two) cheat on college entrance exams. Huffman’s husband, William H. Macy, was not charged or named in the documents, though transcripts of incriminating phone calls allegedly involve both Huffman and her “spouse.��

A representative for Loughlin had no comment. EW has also reached out to a representative for Huffman.

Related content:

• Full House alums Lori Loughlin and Jodie Sweetin to appear in Hallmark Christmas movies
• See photos of Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy through the years
• Felicity Huffman, Moonlight star join Ava DuVernay’s Central Park Five series