Felicity Huffman, former TV actress, can now officially add “convicted felon” to her resume.

Huffman, if you will remember, was snagged in the “Operation Varsity Blues” sting which proved that many a rich parent was paying for their child to either get a better test score, fake a disability, or get a sports slot in order to attend college. Huffman made the wise choice to plead guilty in hopes of mitigating her punishment. On Friday, she was sentenced to 14 days in jail, a fine of $30,000, a year of probation, and 250 hours of community service.

“I think this is the right sentence here,” U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani told Huffman. “You can move forward and rebuild your life after this. Without this sentence, I think the community around you would ask why you got away with this.”

A tearful Huffman had addressed Judge Talwani in Boston federal court before she received her sentence.”

“I’m sorry to you, judge. I am deeply sorry to the students, parents and colleges impacted by my actions,” the Emmy-award winning actress confessed. “I am sorry to my daughters and my husband. I have betrayed them all.”

While people have definite mixed feelings about Huffman’s sentence, an absolutely crap comparison started gaining legs on social media (where all the very best social commentary takes place, naturally). In an attempt to highlight racial inequality in the justice system, the case of Tanya McDowell was brought up by multiple people, news outlets, and Bernie Sanders.

We have a criminal justice system which is racist, broken, and must be fundamentally reformed. https://t.co/XvLHcDvc9A

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) September 14, 2019

In 2012, Tanya McDowell pleaded guilty to first-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny because she enrolled her then-6 year old son in a different school district than the one she actually lived in. Her sentence? Five years probation.

Wait, you say. Then why did she end up being sentenced to five years in prison?

That would be due to her conviction for selling marijuana and crack cocaine to undercover police officers – not once, but twice.

Tuesday’s hearing ended a highly charged case that put a spotlight on the city’s beleaguered school system and cries for changes in state legislation that makes it illegal for parents to send their children to schools in towns where they are not residents.”

But support for McDowell dropped off after she was arrested by Bridgeport police in June and charged with selling marijuana and crack cocaine on two occasions to an undercover police officer outside her Dover Street home. Police said McDowell even interrupted her 6-year-old son’s birthday to sell the drugs.”

Assistant State’s Attorney Michael DeJoseph had made strong efforts to separate the Norwalk case (school district charges) from the drug cases he was prosecuting.”

So, one of these things is not like the other. At all.

On the two counts of sale of narcotics, the judge then sentenced her to 12 years, suspended after she serves five years and followed by five years probation. The sentence is to run concurrently with a five-year sentence she received in the Norwalk case.”

Now, there are a lot of things one can nitpick about the Huffman sentence. For example, she is now asking to spend her two weeks in the pokey at the cushiest jail near her home. But to compare her sentence to that of a drug dealer, who also tried to get her child into a better school district, is the very epitome of fake news. Well done on comparing those apples and oranges while virtue signaling, Bernie, you doddering old fool.

But hey, under a Joe Biden administration, neither Huffman nor McDowell would have served any jail time! How much do you want to bet that Lori “Aunt Becky” Laughlin and her husband are donating to the Biden campaign right about now?

Featured image via Pixabay, cropped, Pixabay license