Jane Buckingham was sentenced on Wednesday to three weeks in prison for taking part in a vast U.S. college admissions cheating and fraud scheme in order to help her son gain an unfair advantage, according to Nate Raymond of Reuters… Support our news coverage by subscribing to our Kindle Nation Daily Digest. Joining is free right now!

Jane Buckingham, a marketing executive who authored parenting advice books, received less than the six-month prison term that federal prosecutors in Boston sought after she admitted to paying $50,000 to have a corrupt test proctor secretly take the ACT college entrance exam on her son’s behalf.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani rejected a request by defence lawyers to sentence the author of “The Modern Girl’s Guide to Motherhood” to probation after noting other wealthy parents also received prison time for their roles in the scheme.

“It’s a serious crime,” said Talwani, who also ordered Buckingham to pay a $40,000 fine.

Buckingham is among 52 people charged with participating in a scheme in which wealthy parents conspired with a California college admissions consultant to use bribery and other forms of fraud to secure the admission of their children to top schools.

William “Rick” Singer, the consultant, pleaded guilty in March to charges he facilitated cheating on college entrance exams and helped bribe sports coaches at universities to present his clients’ children as fake athletic recruits.

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