The Celebrities and Wealthy Who Got Away Lightly With Their Crimes

One rule for them, another for us.

Josie Klakström
7 min readApr 9, 2021

The phrase “too rich to jail” is being bandied around more these days, since white-collar crime numbers have begun to rise. According to The New Republic, there’s not been a better time to take up a career in fraud and corruption. Numerous celebrities and affluent members of society have got away with some serious and stupid crimes over the years and have received very little punishment.

Felicity Huffman

Best known for her role in Desperate Housewives, Huffman was charged by the FBI and Attorney’s Office for her involvement in the college entrance exam scandal. The actress paid $15,000 for her daughter’s SAT exam to be taken by someone else to ensure her better grades to get into Carnegie Mellon University’s theatre course.

Felicity Huffman and husband William H. Macy via latimes.com

She was released on $250,000 bail and appeared in court in March 2019 where she pleaded guilty to fraud. She was fined $30,000, given 250 hours of community service and spent just 11 days in jail for her crimes.

Robert H. Richards IV

Richards who’s the heir to the du Pont family’s estimated $14 billion, was arrested in 2009 for repeatedly sexually assaulting his three-year-old daughter. The billionaire…

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Josie Klakström

Josie is a freelance journo who writes about writing, true crime, culture and marketing. www.truecrimeedition.com