From USA Today:
“Lori Loughlin, husband
Mossimo Giannulli sentenced to prison in college admissions scandal”
Lori Loughlin and her fashion
designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, will serve brief terms in federal prison
after they were formally sentenced Friday under the terms of their plea
bargains on conspiracy charges in the nation's college admissions scandal,
described by the judge as a "breathtaking fraud." Loughlin, 56, was
sentenced to two months in prison at an online hearing Friday in federal court
in Boston conducted via Zoom by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton. Earlier,
Giannulli, 57, was sentenced to five months in prison by Gorton. Besides the
prison term, Loughlin will pay a fine of $150,000, followed by two years of
supervised release and 100 hours of community service. Giannulli will pay a
fine of $250,000 followed by two years of supervised release and 250 hours of
community service. Both sentences were
agreed to under the terms of the couple's plea bargains negotiated with federal
prosecutors earlier this year. "I accept the … plea agreement negotiated
by the government and Ms. Loughlin and I conclude that the agreed sentence … is
sufficient but not greater than needed for punishment," Gorton said.
"There is no mystery about the outcome."
Loughlin apologized, choking up a
bit as she spoke via video link. "I want to express how sorry I am. I made
an awful decision, I went along with a plan to give my daughters unfair
advantage in the college admissions process," she said. "Though
acting out of of love for my children, in reality I only diminished my daughters'
abilities and accomplishments and exacerbated inequities in education and in
society in general," she said. "I have great faith in God and i
believe in redemption. I will do everything in my power to redeem myself and
use this as a catalyst to give back for the rest of my life. I am truly,
profoundly and deeply sorry," she said. "I am ready to face the
consequences and make amends." Gorton told her he believes she is
remorseful and that her statement was sincerely made, but he finds it difficult
to understand the "avarice" of someone like Loughlin, who enjoyed all
the best that life could offer but could still seek to grasp more, illegally. "If we condone criminal conduct, no
matter who commits it, we undermine the fabric of society," he said.
"I don't understand why you and other defendants had the gall to do these
things." Loughlin's attorney, BJ Trach, argued though his client was less
culpable than her husband or any other defendant in the scandal, nevertheless
she takes full responsibility for her role. But, he said, "This conduct
was completely out of character for Lori," adding that Loughlin's
Hollywood career is in ruins. The judge said two letters were submitted to the
court on Loughlin's behalf but did not immediately describe their contents.
Earlier, Giannulli issued a
statement at his sentencing. "I
deeply regret the harm that my actions have caused my daughters, my wife and
others, I take full responsibility for my conduct and I am ready to accept the
consequences and move forward with the lessons I've learned from this
experience," Giannulli told Gorton earlier Friday. Giannulli's lawyer, Sean Berkowitz, said that
contrary to the assertion by prosecutor Kristin Kearney, Giannulli did not
consider himself above the law. He said Giannulli "deeply regrets"
what he did and involving his wife and two daughters in his crime. "He's a good man who made terrible
mistakes that were criminal and he accepts full responsibility for those
mistakes and crimes," Berkowitz said. Gorton told Giannulli he was
convicted of a crime "motivated by hubris," which he defined as
"wanton pride." "I never know where to begin when I'm sentencing
someone in the college admissions scandal, and it astonishes me every time I
have to do it," said the judge, who has handled many of the cases
prosecuted in the scandal. He told Giannulli that, unlike defendants he
sentences in drug-dealing cases, he, Giannulli, could not claim a bad
upbringing or ignorance of the law. If he could send drug dealers to prison,
then it was right to send Giannulli to prison. "You certainly did know better. You
helped sponsor a breathtaking fraud on the nation's system of education and
involved your wife and daughters in (a plan) to scheme your daughters' way into
a university," Gorton said, before officially pronouncing the sentence.
The judge said Loughlin and
Giannulli have 90 days to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving
their sentences. As the request of their lawyers, Gorton said he recommended
the bureau select a prison in California, close to their home, depending on security
requirements. The celebrity couple each pleaded guilty in May to one count of
conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, in separate plea agreements
with federal prosecutors. On Monday, prosecutors in the case urged the judge to
accept the plea deals. In a court filing, prosecutors argued the terms are
comparable to the sentences other prominent parents charged in the case have
received, while accounting for Loughlin and Giannulli's "repeated and
deliberate conduct" and their "decision to allow their children to
become complicit in the crime." Prosecutors called Giannulli "the
more active participant in the scheme," while they said Loughlin
"took a less active role, but was nonetheless fully complicit."
The former star of the television
series "Full House," and her husband, whose fashion line was popular
at Target, were among the most famous of dozens of wealthy and influential
parents charged by federal prosecutors last year with lying and cheating to get
their children into elite universities. Loughlin and Giannulli were accused of
paying $500,000 in bribes to the mastermind of a nationwide admissions scheme,
Rick Singer, to get their two daughters, Olivia Jade Giannulli and Isabella
Giannulli, accepted into the University of Southern California as fake crew
recruits. The couple asserted their innocence from the time they were arrested
in March 2019. For more than a year, their attorneys mounted a vigorous defense
seeking dismissal of the case, arguing Loughlin and Giannulli believed they
were making "legitimate donations" to USC, not bribing college
officials. They kept to that position until May, when they agreed to plead
guilty after prosecutors dropped bribery and money laundering charges, which
could have brought them lengthier prison terms.
By contrast, "Desperate
Housewives" star Felicity Huffman agreed to a plea bargain a few months
after her arrest and was sentenced to 14 days in prison, a $30,000 fine,
supervised release for one year and 250 hours of community service for paying
$15,000 to have someone correct answers on the SAT exam of one of her two daughters.
At the time of plea bargain, she issued a statement of contrition in which she
said she felt "deep regret and shame" for the pain she caused by her
actions. She began serving her sentence in federal prison in California in
September 2019 and was released after 11 days. Like other parents charged in the
"Varsity Blues" case, Loughlin and Giannulli were charged with
funneling money through a sham charity operated by Singer. Singer, who also
pleaded guilty, began cooperating with investigators in September 2018 and
secretly recorded his phone calls with parents to build the case against them. Giannulli
"engaged more frequently with Singer, directed the bribe payments to USC and
Singer, and personally confronted his daughter's high school counselor to
prevent the scheme from being discovered, brazenly lying about his daughter's
athletic abilities," prosecutors told the judge. In that instance,
Giannulli angrily confronted the counselor after the counselor began
questioning the girls' involvement in crew, prosecutors said. Giannulli
demanded that the counselor explain what he was telling USC about his daughters
and asked the counselor why he was "trying to ruin or get in the way of
their opportunities," the counselor wrote in notes detailed in court
documents. After the couple successfully
bribed their younger daughter's way into USC, Singer forward them an email
saying she was let in because of her "potential to make a significant
contribution to the intercollegiate athletic program," prosecutors wrote. Loughlin
responded: "This is wonderful news! (high-five emoji)," according to
court filings.
^ I remember watching Loughlin as
Aunt Becky when I was a kid and I know she has been on lots of movies and shows
on The Hallmark Channel. I’m glad that this is over and her and her husband
will serve their punishment and once that’s over I hope Loughlin can come back
to TV. ^
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