NEWSLori Loughlin Sentenced To 2 Months In Jail Following Operation Varsity Blues Scandal
Lori Loughlin was sentenced to two months in jail following her involvement with the 2019 college admissions scandal, while her husband, Mossimo Giannulli will serve five months. The couple learned about their fate via Zoom on Friday, August 21.
Per their plea agreement, the Full House alum also agreed to pay a $150,000 fine and perform 100 hours of community service and two years of supervised release, while her husband agreed to pay a $250,000 fine with 250 hours of community service and two years of supervised release.
Per NBC10 Boston, Loughlin's lawyer said, "Lori stands here before you accepting full responsibility for her conduct."
The actress, 56, and her husband, 57, originally pleaded not guilty when the scandal made headlines. But in May 2020, they changed their minds. Loughlin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and Giannulli pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud.
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In March 2019, the pair was arrested after they allegedly paid William Rick Singer — who was behind the whole scam — $500,000 for their daughters, Isabella Giannulli and Olivia Jade Giannulli, to attend the University of Southern California as members of the crew team — even though the girls had never been involved with the sport.
“The crime Giannulli and Loughlin committed was serious,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin O’Connell wrote in a memo on August 17. “Over the course of two years, they engaged twice in Singer’s fraudulent scheme. They involved both their daughters in the fraud, directing them to pose in staged photographs for use in fake athletic profiles and instructing one daughter how to conceal the scheme from her high school counselor.”
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Meanwhile, actress Felicity Huffman — who was also involved in the scandal — was sentenced to two weeks behind bars for paying $15,000 to boost her daughter’s SAT scores. However, Huffman, 57, only served 11 days in prison at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, which is where Loughlin may end up.
Despite Huffman’s mistakes, the Hollywood star owned up to her mistakes. “I broke the law. I have admitted that, and I have pleaded guilty to this crime,” she said in a statement in September 2019. “I would like to apologize again to my daughter, my husband, my family and the educational community for my actions. And I especially want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to get into college, and to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices supporting their children.”
Loughlin and Giannulli have not made any public statements regarding their court case.
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Before the duo go to jail, Jade, 20, planned a “going away party daddy” for mommy and daddy, sources exclusively told OK!.
“The family are facing this head on. They are not pretending that it isn’t happening and not burying their heads in the sand. Rather, close friends and family are set to gather on Thursday evening at the family’s home to say goodbye. It is like a ‘mommy going to jail’ party, along with drinks and a cake (presumably without a file in it!),” insiders told OK!.
The YouTube star “is glad to finally get this thing behind her.” We can bet Loughlin is too.
