Parenting-Book Author Jane Buckingham Gets 3 Weeks in Prison for Paying Proctor to Take Test for Son

Jane Buckingham, 51, a Beverly Hills author and marketing consultant, was sentenced to three weeks in prison on Wednesday for her role in the high-profile college admissions scandal. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts, tweeted the news at 4:18 pm.

Buckingham is the 11th parent sentenced in the scandal. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani also slapped Buckingham with a $40,000 fine, and after Buckingham gets out of prison, she will be on supervised release for one year, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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Buckingham, author of the 2006 parenting book The Modern Girl’s Guide to Motherhood as well as Modern Girl’s Guide to Life and Modern Girl’s Guide to Sticky Situations, pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

According to the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post, Buckingham conspired with William “Rick” Singer to have a corrupt test proctor fraudulently take the ACT test for her teenage son. She also agreed to pay Singer $50,000 for his help.

In a letter to the judge, Buckingham reportedly stated that she she was ashamed of herself. “I committed this crime for myself,” she said, the Los Angeles Times reports. “Not because I wanted my son to go to any particular school, but because I needed to make myself feel like a better mother.”

Buckingham’s sentencing comes on the heels of the news that actress Lori Loughlin and fashion-designer husband Mossimo Giannulli face an additional federal charge in the college admissions scandal.

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According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Loughlin, Giannulli and nine other defendants “conspired to commit federal program bribery by bribing employees of the University of Southern California (USC) to facilitate their children’s admission.” They have been charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery.

Federal programs bribery is defined as theft or bribery of an organization that receives more than 10,000 in federal funds. According to the U.S. Penal Code, the charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in federal prison.

Prior to the new charges, Loughlin and Giannulli each already faced charges of money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud. They previously faced up to 40 years in prison and have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

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Actress Felicity Huffman is currently serving a 14-day sentence for her role in the scam after pleading guilty in May to mail fraud and honest services fraud. Additionally, a judge fined the Desperate Housewives actress $30,000 and said she would be on supervised release for one year.