LORI LOUGHLIN
Facing 45 years’ jail
Since March 11 – the day Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, were indicted in the massive college admissions scandal – the couple, married nearly 22 years, seem to have adjusted well to their bizarre new normal. Facing the possibility of decades in prison, the Full House star, 55, made their case her top priority, remaining in “constant communication” with her legal team, all while maintaining a weekly routine that includes yoga class and Sundays at church. For the most part the pair, who pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud and money-laundering charges in April, did their best to go about their lives as usual. But as they awaited their next court date, which is set for January 17, what was supposed to be a quiet lull in the legal storm quickly turned to panic on October 22, when the prosecution surprised them with a third federal charge.
“The entire family is in chaos right now,” says a Loughlin source. “They knew this was a possibility, but they thought perhaps it was just a bargaining tool from the prosecution. Now that the charges are official, they are realising that there is no way to avoid a moderately long prison sentence, unless they are found not guilty in a trial.”
Loughlin and Giannulli, 56, along with nine other defendants, have now been hit with the additional charge of conspiracy to commit federal-programs bribery. The couple was already facing a maximum sentence of 40 years (20 for each of their first two charges), but the additional charge ups their maximum possible time behind bars to 45 years each. “They feel like this is David versus Goliath,” says the source. “How do you go up against the federal government when the government has decided to make an example out of you? This stress is about to break them.” Of the 50 parents, coaches, exam proctors and admissions counsellors accused of everything from doctoring SAT scores to taking exams in a student’s place to falsifying students’ athletic records, 14 defendants – including actress Felicity Huffman – pleaded guilty on April 8. But Loughlin and Giannulli – who are accused of paying $US500,000 to admissions consultant William ‘Rick’ Singer to get their daughters Olivia Jade, 20, and Isabella, 21, into the University of Southern California by posing them as crew-team recruits, though neither was a rower – have maintained their innocence from the start.
For Loughlin and Giannulli the decision to pass on the plea deal has only made the situation worse. Evidence in the latest indictment includes an email exchange, allegedly between Singer and the couple, in which Singer said he needed Isabella’s high school transcript and test scores “very soon while I create a coxswain portfolio for her”. The request continued, “It would probably help to get a picture of her on an ERG in workout clothes like a real athlete.” (An ERG is an indoor rowing machine used to train crew athletes.) “Fantastic,” Giannulli allegedly replied. “Will get all.” The indictment alleges that Giannulli fulfilled Singer’s request and was billed $US200,000. Giannulli then
“The entire family is in chaos right now”
forwarded the invoice to his accountant in an email stating, “Good news my daughter . . . is in (U)SC . . . bad is I had to work the system.”
Had Loughlin and Giannulli taken the original plea agreement offered, the couple likely would have been facing 18 to 24 months in jail, per federal sentencing guidelines. Now “for what they did they could spend a half a century in prison”, explains the source (though most legal experts agree that if found guilty, the couple would likely serve their sentences concurrently, not consecutively, keeping the maximum to 20 years). “Imagine having that hanging over your head. Most people go through life without thinking, ‘I could die in jail,’ but seeing how the prosecution is fixated on them, it’s a real threat.”
Still, Loughlin is adamant that the allegations against her aren’t true. “Does she regret not taking the deal? Of course she does, because it would have been easier,” says the source. “But taking the deal would have admitted guilt, and she believes she was duped by unscrupulous people who enriched themselves off her. It is her position that she was not some sort of criminal mastermind. She just wanted what was best for her daughters. And it has turned into an ongoing nightmare.” As Loughlin’s future remains unknown, maintaining her innocence is taking its toll. “It’s remarkable to watch sometimes,” says the source. “Lori will have moments where she breaks down because this is all so much. But then something changes. You can watch her clench her jaw, and her eyes change, and it’s like, ‘OK. Let’s do this.’ She is a fighter. She maintains that she did nothing wrong, and if they are going
to lock her up, they need to lock up everyone who has donated a library to a college so their kid will get in. She realises that her only hope is to beat this in court.”
According to legal expert James J. Leonard Jr, the prosecutors stacking on additional charges shouldn’t have come as a surprise. “Investigators and prosecutors are constantly gathering information, particularly when there are multiple individuals charged in a particular case who are cooperating with the government and providing information about those who are not,” says Leonard. “This will typically intensify and expand the scope of the prosecution against the defendants who have not pled and who are not cooperating with the government.” While many involved in the scandal (nicknamed Operation Varsity Blues by federal agents) who promptly accepted deals and pleaded guilty have already been handed their sentences (see box), Leonard says early cooperation can make a huge difference: “As new charges are added to an indictment, a defendant’s potential custodial exposure increases, meaning that they will now face the threat of more time in prison than they did before. In a case like this, and with defendants like this, if you have any exposure at all and you are in fact guilty, you want to cooperate with the government and resolve your case very early in the process to limit your liability. Not doing so typically makes a bad situation tremendously worse.”
Loughlin and Giannulli fear that their only choice now is to prepare a defence that will keep them out of jail entirely.
“[Loughlin] is angry, she is sad, but most of all she is terrified,” says the source. “They could have charged her with all of this last spring, but they waited. She feels like she is a scapegoat. The worst part is the uncertainty: Is another shoe about to drop? What else could go wrong? She has no idea. She understands that there are consequences for her mistakes, but multiple federal charges? Decades in jail? She doesn’t believe she deserves that.”
“Lori is a fighter and maintains she did nothing wrong”