Star defendants head to court in college scandal
She, Huffman are faces of admissions scandal
Cheers, jeers greet Felicity Huffman, Lori Loughlin as they make initial appearance in Boston.
BOSTON – Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were in a federal courtroom here Wednesday for their initial appearance before a judge on felony charges they bribed and cheated to get their daughters admitted to elite colleges. As expected, they said little, did not enter pleas and were released on bail.
The two “Hollywood defendants,” the most famous of a group of nearly three dozen parents charged in a wideranging college admissions cheating scandal, were in court for separate first appearances before federal Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley at afternoon hearings that lasted only minutes.
Shortly after 11 a.m., Huffman, 56, was spotted arriving at the courthouse where a media scrum had gathered. Dressed in slacks and a double-breasted jacket, she was alone except for her lawyers. She said nothing.
In the courtroom, Huffman responded to a series of yes or no questions from the judge about whether she understood the charges and the terms of her conditions for release. She was not asked to enter a plea and she did not offer one.
She was emotionless as she walked out of the courtroom; she wore oversized eyeglasses throughout her appearance.
Loughlin, 54, arrived just before 2 p.m., and it was a much bigger scene, with scores of fans, reporters and spectators, news drones and helicop
ters overhead, and many police officers in attendance. Dressed in a tan-peach pantsuit and surrounded by security, she was greeted by loud cheers and screams of “We love you, Lori!”
She got out of a large black van surrounded by her lawyers and bodyguards. Unlike Huffman, she smiled and waved at the fans, some of whom called out to “Aunt Becky” as she walked towards the courthouse door.
At least some detractors were on hand, too: One woman was heard shouting, “Lori, Lori, Lori, pay for my tuition, Lori!” Another pair of women, from Emerson College, held up signs reading, “Lori, pls pay my tuition after you get out of prison (of course).”
Inside, reporters who shared an elevator with her noted she was smiling the whole time but didn’t say anything. Loughlin was still smiling as she walked into the courtroom, seemingly in good spirits.
Also appearing with her: Mossimo Giannulli, Loughlin’s fashion designer husband, who also is charged with paying $500,000 bribes to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California as crew athletes even though neither participated in the sport.
In the courtroom, the couple sat next to each other. When Loughlin’s case was called, she walked to the front of the courtroom straight-faced but calm.
As is routine at a first appearance, the judge asked her questions about whether she understands the charges and the terms of her conditions of release. She answered, “Yes, your honor,” and “Yes, I did.” She had already turned over her passport to a pretrial supervisor in California and it will remain there.
She is required to let the judge know about any future travel but did not ask for any special requests regarding international travel. She also waived a preliminary hearing. After the brief hearing was over, she walked out of the courtroom half-smiling.
Huffman’s Oscar-nominated husband, William H. Macy, was not charged in the case, but the FBI affidavit describing their alleged crimes said Huffman’s “spouse” participated in a scheme to falsely inflate their daughter’s college entrance exam score by paying $15,000 to arrange for a test monitor to correct wrong answers.
The accused will not enter pleas until they are formally arraigned, which won’t occur until they have been indicted by a federal grand jury.
The trio were arrested March 12 and March 13, among a total of 50 people nationwide, and accused of bribing college coaches and insiders at college testing centers to help get their underqualified children into some of the most elite schools in the country.
At a dramatic news conference in Boston, federal prosecutors said some of the defendants were charged with masterminding or participating in the scheme, but most are wealthy parents – including lawyers, CEOs and financial titans – accused of cheating or paying bribes.
“These parents are a catalog of wealth and privilege,” Andrew Lelling, the U.S. attorney in Boston, told reporters. “For every student admitted through fraud, an honest, genuinely talented student was rejected.”
The two actresses have become the faces of the scandal and their careers and families have teetered in the wake.
One woman was heard shouting, “Lori, Lori, Lori, pay for my tuition, Lori!” Another pair of women, from Emerson College, held up signs reading, “Lori, pls pay my tuition after you get out of prison (of course).”