Lori Loughlin, Husband Set To Be Sentenced in College Admissions Scheme
Television actress Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli, a fashion designer, are expected to be sentenced on Friday for their roles in the college admissions bribery scheme that federal investigators named Operation Varsity Blues.
The couple entered plea agreements with the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts in May. For her part, Loughlin pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.
Her husband pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud.
The sentencing recommendations of their respective plea agreements indicate that Loughlin would face two months in prison and face a $150,000 fine. Giannulli is facing a slightly stiffer penalty of five months in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Their sentences will ultimately be determined by a federal judge.
They were the 23rd and 24th parents to plead guilty in the case, according to federal officials.
Loughlin became the face of the admissions scandal, in part because of her celebrity, and in part because unlike other parents accused in the elaborate scheme, she and Giannulli had long maintained their innocence.
In April 2019, the couple pleaded not guilty in a federal court after being accused of paying a bribe worth $500,000 in exchange for securing their daughters admission into the University of Southern California.
Both their daughters had posed as recruits to the university's crew team, even though neither practiced the sport.
The bribes were paid to William "Rick" Singer, the mastermind of the wide-ranging enterprise, which included creating bogus sports profiles for well-off parents hoping to shirk the traditional admissions process to get their children accepted to prestigious schools.
Singer is awaiting sentencing. He has pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and obstruction of justice — and now faces a prison sentence of more than 50 years. However, Justice Department officials said he is cooperating with the government's investigation, and have recommended a prison sentence at the lower end of the sentencing guideline range.
In all, 55 people have been charged in connection with the admissions scheme, which was first announced by federal officials in Boston in March 2019.
The Justice Department framed the venture as a multi-million-dollar scheme to cheat college admissions standards.
In addition to creating sham athletic profiles, the scheme included "bribing SAT and ACT exam administrators to allow a test taker ... to secretly take college entrance exams in place of students or to correct the students' answers after they had taken the exam."
The scam has also swept up a number of collegiate coaches.
Former USC soccer coach Laura Janke pleaded guilty last May to a racketeering conspiracy charge related to the scandal, including $130,000 in illegal payouts. Like Loughlin and Giannulli, she had previously said she did not take part in the scheme.
As NPR reported, Janke helped create a number of bogus sports profiles, including ones for Loughlin and Giannulli's daughters Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose.
Another well-known actress, Felicity Huffman of Desperate Housewives fame, was also convicted in the scheme. She was handed a 14-day prison sentence in September for paying thousands of dollars in exchange for having one of her children's SAT scores boosted. [Copyright 2020 NPR]
