Deadline reported on Monday, November 30, that the actress, 57, is set to star in a half-hour ABC comedy alongside The Peanut Butter Falcon’s Zack Gottsagen. She will play the owner of a minor league baseball team, a character inspired by Susan Savage of the San Francisco Giants’ Triple-A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats. Gottsagen, 35, will costar as her sports-loving son who has Down syndrome in addition to serving as a producer on the series.

Huffman joined the cast after being approached by Kapital Entertainment executive producer and CEO Aaron Kaplan, according to the website. She has reportedly been courted for a number of TV shows and pilots since her time behind bars.

The Emmy winner is no stranger to ABC. She previously led three of the network’s critically acclaimed shows: Sports Night, Desperate Housewives and American Crime.

Huffman was arrested in March 2019 for paying $15,000 to boost her daughter Sophia’s SAT score. Prosecutors alleged in court documents at the time that she had also “made arrangements to pursue the scheme a second time, for her younger daughter [Georgia], before deciding not to do so.” (She shares Sophia, 20, and Georgia, 18, with Shameless star William H. Macy, whom she married in 1997.)

The Oscar winner pleaded guilty to fraud charges in May 2019 and was sentenced to 14 days in prison that September.

“I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community,” she said in a statement at the time. “I want to apologize to them and, especially, I want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to get into college, and to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices to support their children and do so honestly.”

Huffman was released from prison in October 2019 after just 11 days. She subsequently completed 250 hours of community service and was allowed to get her passport back from the U.S. Probation and Pre-Trial Services Department last month after finishing supervised release.

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Nicholas Hautman