Designer leaves prison; convicted for role in college bribery scam

Fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli has been released from a California prison and is under home confinement following his imprisonment for his role in a college admissions bribery scheme, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Giannulli, 57, is married to former “Full House” star Lori Loughlin. They pleaded guilty last year to paying half a million dollars to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California. Loughlin was released from a prison in Dublin in December after spending two months behind bars.

The two were among the most high-profile parents charged in the scheme, which authorities say involved hefty bribes to get undeserving teens into schools with rigged test scores or bogus athletic credentials.

Giannulli was released to home confinement on Friday, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. He is expected to serve the remainder of his sentence at home, the person said. The person could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Giannulli, whose Mossimo

clothing had long been a Target brand until recently, had been in custody at a federal prison in Lompoc near Santa Barbara. He reported in November and was scheduled to be released in April.

A release to home confinement in Giannulli’s case is not out of the ordinary, in part because of the short nature of his sentence.

Records show he is under the supervision of a Bureau of Prisons facility in Long Beach, that manages a halfway house as well as inmates who are under home confinement. The records say he will be released from home confinement on April 17.

The Justice Department has ordered the increased use of home confinement and the expedited release of eligible inmates by the Bureau of Prisons — with priority for those at low- or medium-security prisons — starting with virus hot spots. But advocates have raised concerns about racial and financial inequities in those who are granted home confinement.

In Touch first reported Giannulli’s release.

Giannulli’s attorneys and Bureau of Prisons officials did not immediately return requests for comment Saturday.