The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. Find sources: "Tanya McDowell" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(March 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Tanya McDowell is an American woman who served five years in prison after a plea deal related to falsifying her residence to change school districts. McDowell and her six-year-old son were homeless, McDowell didn't have an address to get her son into a good school, so she lied on admission papers to ensure her son could have an education. McDowell has said she was never informed of the zoning rules in place in Norwalk, CT and had no knowledge that this would send her to prison. After the school board found out about the lie, McDowell's son was removed from the school. McDowell was then charged for five years in prison on the accounts or federal larceny as well as other criminal charges. She was also arrested and charged for offering drugs and prostitutes to undercover police officers. McDowell was charged with seven counts in total. McDowell had a previous record of bank robbery and weapons crimes.[1]
McDowell has received national media attention from articles and viral social media posts juxtaposing aspects of her case with Felicity Huffman's 14 day sentence for a federal crime as part of the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal.[2] The misleading nature of some media attention led to a Snopes fact-checking entry which argued the Huffman and McDowell cases were not directly comparable. Felicity Huffman is an actress best known for her role on ABC's "Desperate Housewives." Huffman was charged with fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud after she paid Rick Singer $15,000 to correct her daughters SAT scores to admit her to a good university. Huffman pleaded guilty to her counts of fraud, but only set 14 days in prison, also paying a $250,000 fine.[3] McDowell and Huffman's cases are often compared because of the differences in the parties involved and how the two women were charged with different sentences for committing similar crimes under very different circumstances. Articles comparing the two cases have determined that the two cases are too different to truly compare. McDowell was facing other charges along with larceny, which gave her a longer sentence than Huffman who was just sentenced under fraud.
[4] Prosecutors from the U.S. attorney's office in Boston in Operation Varsity Blues cited McDowell's case as well as five others in their arguments for the length of prison time for convictions in the admissions scandal. Her case has also been cited in discussions of possible barriers to legitimate employment, educational zoning, university admission criteria, and increased oversight and scrutiny in public housing.
^Schultz, By Kevin. "Tanya McDowell is out of the shadows and living with no regrets". Norwalk Hour. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
^Kroeker, By Jo. "Connecticut mom's case used to push jail time for parents in college admissions scandal". CT Insider. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
^"What the Felicity Huffman Scandal Says About America". Inequality.org. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
^Richie, Beth E. (2012). Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence, and America’s Prison Nation. NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-7622-3.
TanyaMcDowell is an American woman who served five years in prison after a plea deal related to falsifying her residence to change school districts. McDowell...
National Mall. In June 2011, Sharpton spoke at a rally in support of TanyaMcDowell, who was arrested and charged with larceny for allegedly registering...
American country artist Tanya Tucker has released 25 studio albums throughout her career. At age 13, Tucker released her debut album Delta Dawn (1972)...
Samuel Little (né McDowell; June 7, 1940 – December 30, 2020) was an American serial killer who confessed to murdering 93 people, nearly all women, between...
Stagger Lee Thomas McCulloch 1776 1843 humourist The Stepsure Letters Colin McDougall 1917 1984 novelist Execution Franklin D. McDowell 1888 1965 novelist...
Hutchinson May 24 Kelly Ripa & Ryan Seacrest Ethan Hawke, Simon Baker, Tanya Harding & Sasha Farber, Josh Norman & Sharna Burgess May 25 Kelly Ripa &...
character based on conductor Gustavo Dudamel, alongside Lola Kirke, Malcolm McDowell, Saffron Burrows, Hannah Dunne, Peter Vack, and Bernadette Peters. The...
known since childhood, and together they have two daughters, Leanna and Tanya. Rekha was previously married twice, and also has a daughter and son, Leila...
adapted by Michael P. Kube-McDowell. 51 4 "Florence Bravo" October 19, 1986 (1986-10-19) Following a case of adultery, Dr. David McCall (David Hayward) and...
Frances de la Tour, Michael Gambon, Tom Waits, Chris Browning, Malcolm McDowell The Spy Next Door Lionsgate / Relativity Media Brian Levant (director);...
in FHM final". Watford Observer. 9 March 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2023. "Tanya bids for High Street Honey title". The Northern Echo. 2 December 2002. Retrieved...
Lovett Loretta Lynn Barbara Mandrell Kathy Mattea Mel McDaniel Ronnie McDowell Reba McEntire Scott McQuaig Ronnie Milsap Gary Morris Willie Nelson K.T. Oslin...
To Take Earlier Dip In 2024". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 7, 2023. McArdle, Tommy (December 14, 2023). "Jacob Elordi Plays a Killer Hitchhiker Picked...
Friend, Tad. "The Gold Diggers". The New Yorker. May 23, 1999 Mannes, Tanya. "Earth-friendly house in works" Archived March 12, 2009, at the Wayback...
Jarrett, Kevin McNulty, Paul Batten, Wes Tritter Tales from the Darkside: The Movie Paramount Pictures John Harrison (director); Michael McDowell, George A...
Matthew McConaughey, Frances McDormand, Joe Morton, Elizabeth Peña, Gabriel Casseus, Miriam Colon, Eddie Robinson, Stephen Mendillo, LaTanya Richardson...
(director); Dan Gordon (screenplay); David Keith, Malcolm McDowell, David Suchet, Warren Clarke, John McEnery, Nancy Paul, Brian Pettifer, George Pravda, Eugene...
Coscarelli (director/screenplay); Paul Pepperman (screenplay); Marc Singer, Tanya Roberts, Rip Torn, John Amos, Josh Milrad, Rod Loomis, Vanna Bonta, Ben...
Global Information