Loughlin crew alleges misconduct
Lori Loughlin and parents in the “Varsity Blues” scandal are accusing feds of “extraordinary misconduct” in bungling the discovery process as their case moves on per a federal judge’s order despite delays in other parents’ sentencings because of coronavirus concerns.
Counsel for the parents facing federal fraud charges accuse prosecutors of allowing scheme mastermind Rick Singer to delete potentially exculpatory text messages from one of his phones and mounting a pressure campaign against other defendants to secure guilty pleas.
“The Government’s extraordinary misconduct warrants extraordinary relief,” the filing states.
Parents asked a federal judge for suppression of evidence and and an oral argument regarding the Singer-related evidence as their cases inch toward an October trial.
Federal Judge Nathaniel Gorton this month said postponements before trial will only be granted for “good cause shown” despite five other parents being granted delays in sentencing and prison reporting dates because of the pandemic.
Singer’s phone-typed notes, revealed in February, allegedly detail feds’ efforts to coach him on phone calls with parents discussing the six-figure payments to secure bogus admission spots. Parents claim feds knew of the evidence at the time of their production but did not review them, believing they were attorney-client privileged.
“Singer’s notes reveal the Government’s efforts to fabricate inculpatory evidence against Defendants, including by drafting scripts to guide Singer during calls,” the motion said.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling’s office and Singer’s attorney declined to comment Thursday on the parents’ motion.
Exhibits Thursday reveal phone discussions between Singer and parents, including a conversation with a confused Loughlin last March. Singer attempted to explain away federal subpoenas for Loughlin’s daughters’ high school records as she was concerned her daughters would be pulled out of college.
“All right,” Loughlin allegedly said. “Well, I have a headache because I’ve been just so confused.”
Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, accused of paying a combined $500,000 for their daughters’ fake admission to the University of Southern California as crew recruits, were arrested less than two weeks later. USC confirmed their daughters are no longer attending the university.