Lori Loughlin, husband plead guilty in U.S. college admissions scandal

By Nate Raymond

 

FILE PHOTO: Actor Lori Loughlin, and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, leave the federal courthouse after facing charges in a nationwide college admissions cheating scheme, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., April 3, 2019. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

 

BOSTON (Reuters) - "Full House" actress Lori Loughlin and her husband on Friday pleaded guilty to participating in a vast U.S. college admissions fraud scheme to secure spots for their daughters at the University of Southern California.

 

Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, appeared before a federal judge in Boston through a Zoom videoconference to plead guilty under agreements calling for them to serve two months and five months in prison, respectively.

 

They pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. But U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton said he would weigh whether to accept their plea deals, which restrict his ability to impose different sentences.

 

Loughlin and Giannulli have also agreed to be sentenced to respective fines of $150,000 and $250,000 and 100 and 250 hours of community service.

 

Gorton scheduled their sentencings for Aug. 21, though defense attorney William Trach requested an earlier date so the Los Angeles couple could have "finality."

 

They are among 54 people charged over a scheme where wealthy parents conspired with a California college admissions consultant to use bribery and fraud to secure their children's admission to top schools.

 

Consultant William "Rick" Singer has pleaded guilty to facilitating cheating on college entrance exams and using bribery to secure the admission of parents' children to schools as fake athletic recruits.

 

The parents include actress Felicity Huffman, who received a 14-day prison sentence.

 

Also on Friday, Peter Dameris, staffing company ASGN Inc's former chief, agreed to plead guilty. "He is deeply apologetic," said his lawyer, Richard Crane.

 

Prosecutors allege Loughlin and Giannulli conspired with Singer to fabricate parts of their daughters' applications so they could be admitted as fake rowing team recruits.

 

Prosecutors said Giannulli also paid $500,000 to induce a university employee to facilitate the recruitment of daughters Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose Giannulli.

 

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Tom Brown and Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-05-23

 

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I see the investigation stopped sort of  looking into all the foreign parents that did the same thing for their kids.

money has and money will, buy you whatever you want _ time immemorial 

Huh, last time I heard they were going to the mat and fight tooth and nail to prove their "innocence." Going to jail just seems to be the reverse.

Money can't buy you happiness....but sure comes damn close!

 

 

12 hours ago, flyingtlger said:

Money can't buy you happiness....but sure comes damn close!

 

 

The Bible does not say that money is evil, nor does it identify money as the underlying cause of all bad things.

The common expression “money is the root of all evil” is an incomplete and misleading Bible quotation.

The Bible actually says that “the love of money is the root of all evil.” — 1 Timothy Ch 6, V 10.

Edited May 24, 20206 yr by andersonat

money is king in thailand

 

if your child is dumb, but you have money, it will steal the chance for the poor smart kid to get an education

4 minutes ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

money is king in thailand

 

if your child is dumb, but you have money, it will steal the chance for the poor smart kid to get an education

Works for Trump family

What's the point of having money if you can't grease  palms and cut corners?

American justice. Many would argue otherwise, but I consider it to be one of the most corrupt judicial systems on earth. If you are white, and rich, (or in the case of OJ fame helps alot), and can afford to throw a few million at a good legal team, chances are you can get away with murder, or pretty much any other crime. And even if you are convicted, or strike a plea deal, you are looking at 14 days, to 9 months in a very cushy prison, or possibly even "house arrest".

 

However if you are black or Hispanic, and you are caught with a few grams of ganga in many states, or convicted of minor theft, you can serve up to 10 years in a medium security prison. Same as a rapist, or someone convicted of manslaughter. Justice? I think not. 

 

I believe the longest sentence handed out so far in this school scandal case has been 9 months. And it involved over 200 (hapless and apparently relatively incompetent) FBI agents. 

Good timing, short to no jail time due to panic over covid.

1 hour ago, Emdog said:

Works for Trump family

What's the point of having money if you can't grease  palms and cut corners?

Such an odd statement. I'd put Ivanka, D. Jr, Tiffany and Eric in any intellence contest against Hunter B, Chelsea C, Paul Jr., Christine, Jacqueline and Alexandria (Pelosi) and I'm pretty sure Don's kids would win. 

7 minutes ago, rgraham said:

Good timing, short to no jail time due to panic over covid.

I think you're right.

14 hours ago, AgMech Cowboy said:

Such an odd statement. I'd put Ivanka, D. Jr, Tiffany and Eric in any intellence contest against Hunter B, Chelsea C, Paul Jr., Christine, Jacqueline and Alexandria (Pelosi) and I'm pretty sure Don's kids would win. 

You'd lose. Chelsea could mop the floor with the lot of them: "She received an undergraduate degree at Stanford University and later earned master's degrees from University of Oxford (having studied at University College, Oxford) and Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, and a Doctor of Philosophy in international relations from the University of Oxford in 2014." (from wikipedia)

 

 

On 5/23/2020 at 5:23 PM, rooster59 said:

Prosecutors allege Loughlin and Giannulli conspired with Singer to fabricate parts of their daughters' applications so they could be admitted as fake rowing team recruits.

Wouldn't they be expected to be able to row once they joined the college team?