Lori Loughlin left prison this morning after serving a two-month sentence after pleading guilty to cheating her daughters’ way into the University of Southern California. Loughlin has been in prison since Oct. 30.
The Full House served her sentence in the federal lockup in Dublin, California for her role in the so-called college admissions scam, the Associated Press said. Her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, is still serving a five-month sentence in Lompoc near Santa Barbara, California.
Investigators said the couple tried to bribe the daughters’ way into USC. They were accused of paying $500,000 to get their daughters into USC on rowing scholarships. That’s despite neither being rowers.
Loughlin must now serve two years of supervised release and complete 100 hours of community service, Yahoo said. She previously paid a fine of $150,000.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling explained that Giannulli was the more “active participant” in the scheme, which is why his sentence was longer.
“The crime Giannulli and Loughlin committed was serious,” Lelling writes. “Over the course of two years, they engaged twice in (Rick) 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. As between the defendants, the evidence suggests that Giannulli was the more active participant in the scheme.”
Daughter Says Lori Loughlin Messed Up, Wants 2nd Chance
Olivia Jade, their youngest daughter who is a social media influencer, addressed the incident on The Red Table series. Jada Pinkett Smith, her mother, and daughter Willow Smith host the show. Jade said told the host that her family isn’t deserving of people’s pity.
“We messed up. I just want a second chance to be like, ‘I recognize I messed up.’ And for so long I wasn’t able to talk about this because of the legalities behind it,” she said.
Lori Loughlin has only spoken about the case once, during her trial. She told the judge that their actions had “helped exacerbate existing inequalities in society,” the Associated Press said. She pledged to do everything in her power to use her experience as a “catalyst to do good.”
Actress Felicity Huffman pleaded guilty in 2019 and served two weeks in prison and a year of supervised probation. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud for paying a man to take the SATs to boost her daughter’s scores, CNN said.
