Star Felicity Huffman was sentenced to 14 days in jail on Friday for her function in the college admissions scandal, after federal district attorneys argued that some period of imprisonment was essential to send a message that fortunate moms and dads would be “similarly subject to the law despite wealth or position.”

Huffman, 56, pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to dedicate mail scams and sincere services mail fraud for paying $15,000 to have a proctor remedy her eldest daughter’s SAT responses in2017 In federal court in Boston on Friday, Huffman sobbed as she apologized to her daughter, who she says was not knowledgeable about the unfaithful scheme.

” I was frightened. I was silly, and I was so incorrect. I am deeply ashamed of what I have done,” Huffman said, according to the Associated Press. “I have actually inflicted more damage than I might ever picture. I now see all the things that led me down this road, however ultimately none of the reasons matter because at the end of the day I had a choice. I could have stated no.”

Huffman had actually thought about pursuing the same scheme for her younger child, however eventually decided against it.

Federal district attorneys argued that imprisonment was “the only meaningful sanction for these criminal offenses,” and had actually asked that Huffman get a one-month jail sentence and $20,000 fine. Instead, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani sentenced her to 14 days in prison, 250 hours of community service, a year of monitored release and a fine of $30,000

Huffman is the very first of more than 30 moms and dads to be sentenced for their function in assisting in unfaithful and bribing athletic coaches to get their children into elite schools. In the months given that prosecutors revealed criminal charges against 51 individuals, observers had questioned whether any of the offenders would serve time in jail. In June, previous Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer, the first person associated with the scandal to be sentenced, received no prison time.

One complicating factor has actually been a legal dispute over whether any victim suffered a monetary loss as a result of the bribery scheme– which might impact how lenient the sentences are. Federal probation officers, in conflict with prosecutors, concluded in a report this week that there was no victim of Huffman’s crime.

In a letter to Talwani recently, Huffman stated there was “no validation for what I have done,” however explained that her “desperation to be an excellent mother” drove her to horn in her daughter’s test rating.

” I talked myself into thinking that all I was doing was offering my daughter a fair shot. I see the irony in that declaration now because what I have done is the opposite of reasonable,” she composed. “I have actually broken the law, deceived the educational community, betrayed my daughter, and failed my household.”

The charges against Huffman and other parents– amidst anticipation that they might receive lax sentences– have fueled discussions about racial and socioeconomic inequality in the criminal justice system and fairness in higher education, as those accused of bribing their method into elite schools likewise had access to legal benefits, including private tutors, expensive college counselors and effective connections.

Throughout the sentencing hearing, Talwani reprimanded Huffman for attempting to “get one more advantage” in the college admissions process, a system “currently so distorted by money and opportunity.”

District attorneys referenced the case of Kelley Williams-Bolar, a mom in Akron, Ohio who was founded guilty in 2011 on felony charges connected to registering her daughters for public school under their grandpa’s address in a much better district. She was sentenced to 10 days in prison, 3 years of probation, and fined $70,000 Her conviction was later minimized to a misdemeanor by then-Gov. John Kasich.

” I was a divorced mama, a black mom, residing in an inner-city, just attempting to make my method, trying to go to college, attempting to start over once again, and the justice system didn’t have any mercy on that at all,” Williams-Bolar told TIME today “The justice system is not simply for everybody.”

Huffman’s sentence supplies some insight into what other defendants in the admissions scandal can expect as their cases continue. Talwani kept in mind that Huffman did not involve her kid in the rip-off and paid a smaller sized kickback than many other parents, however she agreed “there must be some imprisonment imposed.”

” The reality that the judge decided to send out among, perhaps, the least culpable offenders to some prison time will let [other defendants] understand that probation may not remain in the cards,” says Doug Berman, a Moritz College of Law teacher who studies criminal sentencing.

Several offenders– including Complete House star Lori Loughlin and her partner Mossimo Giannulli, accused of paying $500,000 to have their daughters designated as crew team hires at the University of Southern California– have pleaded not guilty and are planning to proceed to trial.

They could deal with up to 40 years in prison if convicted.

” One always faces a longer prison term if convicted after a trial, preserving their resistance and revealing no regret,” Berman states. “I make sure there are defense lawyers encouraging clients who have not yet pled guilty that it’s not too late.”

Compose to Katie Reilly at Katie.Reilly@time.com