Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli will plead guilty, accept prison time in college admissions scandal

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published 21 May 2020

Actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli have finally accepted prison time for their college admissions scandal.

Loughlin and Giannulli are scheduled to plead guilty to bribing the University of Southern California on a Friday video conference, with Loughlin facing two months of prison time and Giannulli facing five months. The couple will also have to pay a total of $400,000 in fines and perform community service, prosecutors said Thursday.

The couple was charged with paying $500,000 in bribes to get their two daughters into USC as crew recruits, even though they didn't play the sport. Loughlin and Giannulli were exposed in the massive Operation Varsity Blues investigation, which uncovered dozens of wealthy people and celebrities who'd allegedly bribed schools and falsified test results to get their children into prestigious colleges. Actress Felicity Huffman was among them, though she served her 11-day prison sentence months ago. Loughlin and Giannulli meanwhile spent months trying to get their charges dropped.

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Loughlin will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and Giannulli will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud, CNN reports. After their prison terms, Loughlin will be subject to a year of supervised release and will have to complete 100 hours of community service, and Giannulli will face two years of supervised release and have to complete 250 hours.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.