Felicity Huffman to Face Charges in Court
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: -- judge that she's in front of sees a docket all day long of terrorists, drug dealers, people who've committed murders. And then in comes Felicity Huffman, who used $15,000 to bribe her way into college -- or her daughter's way into college. That's a relatively minor crime on the list of federal crimes. In addition, the prosecutor only has recommended 30 days in jail. And judges, a lot of times, compromise between what the prosecutor is asking for -- usually the toughest sentence -- and what defense attorneys are saying. And defense attorneys are saying community service and a $20,000 fine would be appropriate. So my bet is that if she gets any jail time, it's going to be a tiny amount and she will get the fine, the $20,000 fine.</s>JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: So, Paul, of course, as you know, there are other defendants in this broader scandal here who committed worse crimes. I mean, this was a case of paying money to fake the SATs, in effect. You have others who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars --</s>POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Yes.</s>SCIUTTO: -- to outright fake athletic achievements in high school, then reserve them positions on college sports teams, and therefore positions in the college. If she is not sentenced here or (ph) sentenced, what does that mean for other defendants like Lori Loughlin and others who are fighting, who have not pled guilty, about what they're likely to face?</s>CALLAN: Well, a lot of lawyers who are looking at this, Jim, say that this may set the standard for how the parents are going to be treated in the case. But when you look at her conduct compared to some of the other parents, under the federal sentencing guidelines, one of the things they look at is, for instance, how much money was used to do the act, to bribe the way into college. And in her case, it was $15,000. There are other parents who spent as much as $6 million to get their kids into college. So she's at the lower end of the spectrum and I think the judge is going to be conscious of that, and I think we could expect -- and she also pleaded guilty early, and accepted responsibility. That means an enormous --</s>SCIUTTO: Yes.</s>CALLAN: -- amount under the federal system. And she gets credit for that, and that will set an example, by the way, for others, maybe that it would be in their interest to plead guilty and not put the system through a trial.</s>HARLOW: Because not all of them (ph) --</s>SCIUTTO: I mean, they defrauded -- they defrauded the schools, they defrauded their kids, right? I mean, that's another headline from this, just incredible.</s>HARLOW: For sure, for sure. Paul, thank you. We'll see what happens. 2:30 this afternoon, she will be sentenced.</s>CALLAN: Thank you.</s>SCIUTTO: We'll be watching. And here is "What to Watch" today.</s>TEXT: What to Watch... 12:00 p.m. Eastern, V.P. Pence speaks at GOP retreat; 2:30 p.m. Eastern, Sentencing for Felicity Huffman; 8:45 p.m. Eastern, Sanders holds rally in Nevada