Lori Loughlin – Off To Prison
Embattled TV actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli have been sentenced jail time for the biggest college-admissions scandal dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues.”
Lori, 56, is known for portraying Aunt Becky in the popular sitcom, “Full House” and its reboot, “Fuller House,” and Mr. Giannulli, 57, founded the clothing brand Mossimo, which he later sold.
The sentencing happened last month, after pleading guilty in May to taking part in the scandal. Loughlin pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire, and mail fraud, after more than a year of her and Giannulli fighting with prosecutors over their part.
Friday, August 21, 2020, saw them sentenced to prison for their roles in widely publicized college admissions cheating scandal. The actress will spend two months in jail, while her husband has a heavier sentence of 5 months for his part in a plot that helped their daughters gain admission to the University of Southern California by falsely portraying them as elite crew athletes. Giannulli took a much more active role in the scheme, according to prosecutors; thus deserved more jail time. Though it’s likely that she will spend less time behind bars than that. Much less than the 10 plus years that had initially been suggested by the mental patient prosecution.
Addressing the court, the actress read from her prepared statement. “I made an awful decision,” she told the judge, per People magazine. “I went along with a plan to give my daughters an unfair advantage in the college admissions process. In doing so, I ignored my intuition and allowed myself to be swayed from my moral compass.” The actress told U.S. District Court Judge, Nathaniel Gorton that she will “redeem myself” and “use this experience as a catalyst to do good and give back for the rest of my life.”
Friday’s sentencing comes a year after federal investigators exposed a network of wealthy parents who paid thousands of dollars to a California man, who boosted their children’s chances of gaining entrance into elite colleges.
The scheme whose mastermind, William “Rick” Singer ran a for-profit college counseling, and preparation business. Singer torpedoed the entire operation when he agreed to wear a wire, and cooperate with investigators. A number of other privileged parents were caught up in the scandal, including the “Desperate Housewives” actress Felicity Huffman.
Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman was sentenced to two weeks in jail for paying $15,000 to have someone boost her daughter’s SAT scores, without her daughter’s knowledge. The 57-year-old only ended up serving 11 days in prison at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, which is where Loughlin will probably end up.
For universities like University of Southern California, that have hugely-successful sports teams, coaches and athletic departments have been granted far-reaching power to flag top-notch athletes for distinct admission consideration. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney, Justin O’Connell, when the two faked their children’s admissions, they denied two other teens a chance to attend USC.
William Trach, Loughlin’s defense lawyer said the actress, and her daughters are being unduly punished in the court of public opinion. Neither of the daughters has been charged, and they are both no longer enrolled at USC. The famous couple’s attorneys explained they had evidence that the FBI used aggressive tactics, which they used to allege investigatory misconduct. Hence, the short sentence from the plea deal, instead of 20 years.
Loughlin and Giannulli were both ordered to report to prison on Nov. 19. Giannulli will be sent to a federal lockup in Lompoc, California, and was ordered to pay a $250,000 fine, and perform 250 hours of community service. Loughlin was hit with $150,000 fine, and 100 hours of community service and hopes to serve her time at a facility in Victorville, California to be close to her family.
LORI LOUGHLIN, “believes she can make a comeback “after jail & ‘be bigger than she was before.’